Not Falling Apart
by Faulty Cameras
Summary: Promises are forever, right? Wrong. When Seth breaks an important promise to Summer,their marriage starts to spiral downward. They have to work together to try and overcome everything to save their marriage and lives from falling apart.
1. Goodnight, Goodnight

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, I also don't own the title of the story or the lyrics in the beginning, the lyrics are from the song Goodnight, Goodnight by Maroon 5 and the title is also from Maroon 5. Oh, I also don't own the first line Seth says, that belongs to One Tree Hill. I think I've covered everything now that I don't own. 

A/N- So this is my first O.C. fanfic as I just recently found out that I am completely in love with this show. So, yea, basically this idea popped into my head the other night and once I get an idea, it doesn't ever seem to want to leave until it's actually written. I was going to originally wait a few more days to post this until I had the next chapter completely written, but I have had to sacrifice my bedroom to a really big bug (I am so afraid of all bugs) and so since I can't sleep, I decided this was something I could do. Just like to say thanks to my dear friend Katie for reading this over for me. Okay, and most things written in italics are flashback, but there are some things that are in italics that aren't part of a flashback, but hopefully you can figure out which ones those are.

* * *

_Her hair was pressed against her face, her eyes were red with anger  
Enraged by things unsaid and empty beds and bad behavior  
Something's gotta change  
It must be rearranged, oh  
_  
Summer sighed heavily as she looked at all the hard work she had done, work she had done for nothing. She had spent the whole day making dinner, a delicious dessert, and cleaning the whole house. And for what? 

Absolutely nothing. Seth wasn't home yet and it was already nearly 9:30 at night. She had waited for him to come home for two hours and he never came. He had done what she had always feared him doing; he forgot their anniversary.

Any other time in their marriage she would have forgiven him for forgetting it. He had remembered for the past four years, and she had thought that was too good to be true, and that he was going to forget sometime soon. So normally, she wouldn't have cared. But tonight she cared.

It was the fourteenth time in the past month that he had been late coming home. She knew that he had a lot of work of to do, but he never called anymore. He always used to call when he was going to be late. Always, and now he had stopped calling. This had been happening for the past few months and each month the time he was late was increasing and he was coming home later and later. She never saw him anymore because by the time she got up to bring their daughter, Emma, to preschool, he was already gone or still asleep from the late night before. She had talked to him maybe once in the last three days, something that was killing her on the inside.

She had thought that their anniversary would have brought back the Seth Cohen she had fallen in love with, not the Seth Cohen that worked all the time and barely had time to spend time with his daughter who adored him and with his wife who loved him more than anything. On top of that, she was going to tell him that she was pregnant again. She thought that this would have been the perfect time to tell him. It was all ruined.

She sighed again and stood up, grabbing the two plates with the dinner she had worked so hard on and dumped them into the garbage. She blew out the two candles that she had lit and then grabbed the whole white chocolate raspberry cheesecake she made and a fork. She let a tear fall down her face as she realized that this was how she was spending her anniversary.

* * *

Finally, after three hours of wallowing in her own self pity with the cheesecake and a viewing of _Titanic_, Summer headed to bed. She grabbed an old t-shirt of Seth's and slipped it on, breathing in the scent that she wished smelled even more like him. She curled up in ball on the bed, remembering the first night they were married and the promise Seth had made to her.

* * *

_"Golly gee, that sure was some good lovin'," Seth joked as Summer laid her head on his chest. _

She slapped him with her hand on his chest. "God, Cohen, do you have to be so crude?"

"Yes." Seth replied, smirking slightly. "And ow."

"Wimp," Summer muttered, loud enough for Seth to hear.

"Hey, I am so not a wimp. I am like, the opposite of a wimp. I am…a macho man," Seth looked down at Summer who was laughing at him. "Okay, so maybe I am a wimp, but a macho wimp. It makes me sound more manly."

"Okay, then, you're a macho wimp," Summer giggled when she said it out loud, realizing how ridiculous it sounded.

"Thank you." Seth paused. "Wait a second. Does that make me sound like I'm a bigger wimp than just wimp?"

Summer just laughed again, shaking her head at him.

The two laid there for a few minutes in comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's presence as they had always done. Summer listened to Seth's heartbeat and his breathing and it made her smile. He was now forever hers and no one else's.

"Seth?" Summer sat up and looked him in the eyes, which were half-shut as he was almost sleep.

"Mhmm?"

"Are you always going to be there for me?"

Now Seth was fully awake. "Of course. What would make you even ask something like that? I mean hello, we are married now."

"I know that, but I mean are you always going to be there? No matter what you're going to be there for me, especially when I need you the most? You'll just drop everything if I need you to help or protect or take care of me?"

"Of course Summer. I would do anything for you. Don't ever doubt that."

* * *

Summer felt tears come to her eyes as she looked over at the empty side of the bed, but this time it was not out of sorrow that Seth was not there with her at that moment. These were out of anger and rage that Seth had broke his promise to her. He wasn't there and she needed him at that moment. She hated that he broke a promise to her, a promise that was supposed to be kept. 

She picked up the phone and dialed Seth's cell phone number. She wanted to make sure that he was still willing to keep that promise with her and he would come to her immediately if she needed him. She wanted that reassurance in her life at that moment; it was more important to her than anything else.

After a several moments of rather impatient waiting as the phone rang, Seth's voice filled her ear, along with the sound of loud music blaring.

"Where are you?" these were the first words out of Summer's mouth.

_"I'm so glad that we're past that stage of saying 'hello' on the phone. It always mystified me why I had to greet people like that. This is much better, just spitting out what you want to say. Makes things go a lot faster."_

"Shut up Seth. Where are you? Why aren't you home?"

Summer heard a rather loud yell in the background noise from Seth's end that sounded considerably like "C'mon Seth, another round is coming!" She opened her mouth to say something to Seth, but he did before she could.

_"Listen Summer, I'll be home soon. I'm still working right now. I promise I'll be home soon."_

The next thing Summer heard on the phone was complete silence. Seth had hung up with her. She was the one who was calling him, full of anger, yet he was the one who got to decide when their brief conversation would end. That was so…unfair. She didn't care if she sounded like her four-year-old daughter. She thought this was all so unfair to Emma and her, Seth never being around anymore. Something was definitely going to change and at that moment in her life, Summer was not sure if it was going to be a good thing or if it was going to make everything a lot worse.

* * *

Summer quickly opened her eyes when she heard a crash coming from below her. She took a quick glance at the clock, noting that it was 2:30 in the morning and Seth was still not home. She wished after hearing that crash that he was home with her, telling her that everything was okay, then going to check it out even though he was just as scared as she was. 

She was wishing that until the bedroom door opened and revealed that Seth was the one who was in the house and was the one who had caused that crash that had nearly scared her half to death.

"Hey, Summer, you're still up?" Seth squinted at her in the dark, trying to determine why his wife was still up at 2:30.

"No, I was just woken up by the loud crash that came from you apparently," Summer replied, her voice filled with anger.

Seth didn't exactly catch on to that, very possibly because he was just slightly drunk. "Oh, yea, we really should rethink that whole umbrella and coat stand thing next to the front door. They were ugly anyways, didn't match with the whole décor of the rest of the front hallway. That and the fact that when a coat stand is knocked over, not only does it make a surprisingly loud noise, but it also breaks. Who knew that could happen?"

"Why are you home so late?"

"Oh I was just working late. You know. I had stuff to take care of at the office."

"Yea, and that involved lots of loud music and drinking too, right?"

"Oh, yea a few of us just decided to go out after work. Spur of the moment type of thing. To blow off steam from the long day of work."

"Why didn't you come home and spend time with me?" Summer asked, her voice now softer and full of hurt.

Seth didn't seem to hear her though as he never responded. He started to get undressed, not bothering to look at Summer and the look that she was giving him at that moment. If he had, he would have known something was wrong right then and there, even in his slightly drunk state. Instead he hopped onto the bed next to Summer and leaned in to kiss her.

"Hm…I really like when you wear my t-shirts. I also like when I get to take them off of you," Seth said softly bringing his face closer to hers.

"Seth, stop." For the first time in forever, Summer pushed away his kiss. She couldn't bring herself to once again to get lost in him and ignore all that she had been feeling this whole night. She wanted to so bad but she knew she had to stop him. She knew she had to try and make things better.

"What's wrong?" Seth asked, pouting at her for a minute. When he got no response he backed away, realizing that his wife was in a bad mood for some reason unknown to him. He thought it was a good idea if he stayed away until this mood passed.

"You really didn't remember." Summer looked at him. She couldn't believe that for a second she had actually thought he did remember. She was hoping he would have all of the sudden looked at her and said 'Happy anniversary' and joke around with her and then sweep her away on a romantic getaway. Wishing only goes so far though.

"Remember what?" Seth looked at her, trying to figure her out. She was a closed book at that moment, he was unable to read any of her emotions and feelings.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Summer said, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

Seth gave her a baffled look, unable to figure her out. She refused to kiss him and she wasn't talking to him. He would have pressed the issue but at that moment he really didn't want to have to experience a pissed off Summer, because the one that he had that moment was just enough for him.

"I'm, um, going to go sleep in Emma's room," Summer stood up suddenly, grabbing her pillow and started to head towards the door.

"Where's Emma?"

"She's spending the night with Ryan and Taylor tonight," Summer replied turning to look at him.

Seth gave her a blank stare in return. "Why would she stay there? And why are you going to sleep in there? Can you please just tell me what's going on?"

"It's our anniversary Cohen," she said, her voice barely above a whisper but still loud enough for Seth to hear. "Our fucking anniversary. How could you forget something like that?"

Deafening silence filled the room, neither knowing what to say. Summer stood in the doorway, clutching her pillow to her chest staring at Seth, while he just sat there not staring at her, but staring at the blanket on the bed, the wall, the picture on the bedside table, anywhere but her face.

After a few minutes of this, Summer was fed up, she turned to leave the doorway and to walk to Emma's room. Something stopped her though. She caught Seth's eye, and for a brief fleeting second, thought he was going to say something to her. He didn't even open his mouth.

"Goodnight Seth," she said softly, walking away and not looking back.

* * *

A/N- Well, so that wasn't the happiest chapter ever. I promise it gets better. Feedback makes me happy, even if you think the story was terrible. So, yea...please review and tell me what you thought. 


	2. Lonely World

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of the O.C. And the lyrics in the beginning are from the song Lonely World by Bryan Greenberg. 

A/N- Just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the first chapter, that made me really happy. :) Oh, and thanks to my friend Meg for reading this over for me. And just like last chapter, flashbacks are in italics.

* * *

_He don't say much when there ain't much to say  
She waits for his reponse  
She waits all day_

Seth awoke the next morning early, way earlier than he ever would have gotten up on a Sunday, his one day off, especially considering he had been out so late and had more drinks the night before than he had really intended on ever having. He wanted to continue sleeping but he knew that Emma was probably going to come in the room soon so they could make her breakfast. He turned to give Summer a kiss and was shocked to see that she wasn't there. He sat and stared at the spot for a moment, trying to figure out where she was. He got out of bed and started to search the whole room for her, which he knew was ridiculous.

After the search of their bedroom, he moved on to the rest of the house. He looked in the bathroom and both of the guest bedrooms and Summer was in neither. The only room he had left to look in was Emma's, though he couldn't imagine Summer being in there, unless Emma was sick. He decided it couldn't hurt to look, so he opened the door and much to his surprise found Summer sleeping soundly in the bed, Emma nowhere to be found.

"Summer?" Seth walked over, gently waking her up.

Summer slowly opened her eyes and Seth's confused face was the first thing she saw. "Seth? What are you doing in here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I was also wondering, where the hell is Emma?"

Summer stared at him, trying to figure out if he was kidding with her. After seeing his truly confused face, she realized that he had forgotten their whole conversation from the night before. He didn't remember a damn thing about their conversation. He still didn't know that it was their anniversary the day before.

"Summer? Where's our kid?"

Summer hesitated. This was a conversation she had already had, she didn't really want it to happen again. In a split second she decided just to not tell Seth again and let him figure it out for himself. "She spent the night with Ryan and Taylor."

"Why'd she do that?" Seth was confused. Emma usually hated spending the night away from her parents, only when her parents made her did she actually go and usually not happily.

"She...uh, wanted to spend the night with Josh and Molly," Summer responded. Josh was Ryan and Taylor's son, who was a year younger than Emma and Molly was their daughter who was a year old. They were always playing together, so Summer thought it was a safe idea giving that as an excuse.

"Oh," Seth paused. He was about to let it go, but then he wanted to know why she was sleeping in Emma's room. "So why are you sleeping in here?"

"I just missed Emma. You know, she's usually home and it was weird for me. So I...I just decided to sleep in here," Summer replied, surprised that she was actually able to come up with a lie so quickly.

Seth nodded, seeming to accept this answer. "Do you want to go back to sleep then? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"No, I was going to get up soon anyways. I'll just go and make breakfast." She got out of the bed, leaving the room and Seth behind.

* * *

Seth was just a little confused at the moment. Summer had barely talked to him all day. He couldn't figure it out. They were alone, which really didn't happen too often considering their kid's tendency to be afraid to spend the night away from her parents, and she wouldn't even talk to him more than asking him if he was done with the Arts and Leisure section of the newspaper. Really, this was not what he had in mind when he heard that Emma was at Ryan and Taylor's until noon. 

That was another thing. Emma had been gone the whole night and yet Summer had spent the night away from him. Something was seriously not adding up and he still couldn't figure it out. Why she spent the night away from him, when they definitely should have been spending the night together was beyond him.

"Hey Sum?" Seth looked at her over the newspaper he was reading.

"Yea," Summer didn't look at him just kept reading her newspaper, which Seth took notice of immediately. She had always given him her full attention and now, she was barely looking at him.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine."

Seth continued looking at her, really unsure of what to do next. He knew something was bugging her but he wasn't sure why she wasn't saying a thing. After a few minutes of him staring at her, she looked over at him, sensing his gaze on her.

"Do you want something Seth?"

"No," Seth replied, averting his gaze. His eyes fell on the clock, which read 11:45. "Uh, Summer, aren't we supposed to go and pick Emma up?"

"Oh. Yea. Do you think you could go and get her? I have some things I want to get some cleaning done."

"Sure." Seth stood and went over to kiss Summer goodbye, as was their custom, but she was already gone from the room.

* * *

On the fifteen minute drive to Ryan and Taylor's house, Seth thought over and over in his head of what could be wrong with Summer. It had to be something to do with him, because she was acting cold to him. She had been acting like that for the past few days, but he really hadn't paid it any mind until right now, as it was becoming more and more prominent to him. Before it was just that she was distant, but she would always come back from that and be his normal Summer. The Summer he had experienced this morning was anything but normal to him. 

This was way to stressful to him. Figuring girls out. God, they should really come with a manual. He thought that he was able to figure her out more these days considering they had been together since┘forever. He thought it would have gotten easier. He was so wrong. It just kept getting harder and harder to figure her out.

He sighed as he pulled into Ryan and Taylor's driveway. He went to the front door and knocked, waiting for a response. He got none, which worried him for a minute until he heard Josh's screaming from the other side of the door. He smirked to himself as he heard the commotion going on inside, now hearing Molly yelling in her nonsense baby talk. Ryan and Taylor had got the kids who were loud and never really shut up, while Seth and Summer had gotten Emma, who was unusually quiet at times. It was something that still mystified them.

After a minute Ryan opened the door, looking annoyed and holding Molly in his arms.

Seth cautiously stepped into the house, not really too sure what to expect. "Where's Emma?"

"Good question."

"You lost my daughter?"

"I didn't lose her. She's probably hiding," Ryan replied.

Suddenly they heard Josh's screaming again and saw him darting into the living room, followed closely by Taylor. Josh was running around not wearing any clothes with his hair and parts of his face covered in mud. They soon saw Emma trailing slowly after the two, holding a towel and a bar of soap in her hand, looking slightly confused and frightened.

When Seth saw Emma, his face lit up with a smile. Everyone said that she looked exactly like him and his family always told him that she acted like him too. She had curly dark brown hair and brown eyes. Even though, Seth still insisted that she had Summer's smile, a smile that always made him smile when he saw Emma and Summer.

"Daddy!" Emma dropped what she was holding and ran to her father.

"Hey, Em," he picked her up in his arms and held her in his arms, mostly because she was holding on to him for dear life.

"Hi Uncle Seth!" Josh stopped his running, which allowed Taylor to grab him.

"I've got him," Taylor said triumphantly. "Okay bud it's time for a bath now."

"NO!" Josh screamed, but Taylor continued walking him to the bathroom.

"What the heck are you showing my kid, letting Josh run around naked?" Seth asked.

"It's not my fault that he's decided to refuse to bathe," Ryan chuckled as he heard splashes and Taylor's screeches in the background coming from the bathroom. "Well, at least this time we were able to keep him in the house."

"Yea, that's always a good thing," Seth agreed, looking down at Emma, secretly thanking her for being such a good kid.

"So what did you and Summer do for your anniversary last night?"

"Our what now?" Seth looked up at her. Their anniversary wasn't for another month...

Or was it? Seth thought about it for a minute and then he realized. He had forgot their anniversary. He couldn't believe it, he had finally done what probably every other husband had done, he had forgotten their anniversary. He had vowed when they had gotten married, it would never happen. He let it. No wonder Summer was so mad at him.

"Did you forget your anniversary?" Ryan asked.

"Shit," Seth muttered, ignoring the rule that Summer usually had him live by about swearing when he was around Emma.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Well, it looks like I have some groveling to do. Emma, do you want to go shopping for a little while before we go home?"

Emma looked up at him, with a somewhat pained expression on her face. Seth almost laughed, then remembered the dilemma at hand. "Em, I promise I will buy you anything."

"Okay." This perked the little girl up almost immediately. "Can I get a pony?"

"Sure, as long as its plastic," Seth replied. "Well bye Ryan, I'll see you later...that is if my wife doesn't kill me and bury my body in the backyard and then later tell everyone that I was abducted and puts on an act about being the poor widowed wife. Oh, and then it turns out I wasn't dead at all, I went into hiding and instead she went so crazy she killed one of my friends instead. Things aren't looking to bright for you Ryan. It was nice knowing you."

"You need to watch less movies."

"Will do." Seth yelled a goodbye to Taylor and Josh, then ran out of the house. He had some major work to do.

* * *

Summer threw down the pile of laundry she was folding onto the bed violently. Seth wasn't home and he had gone to pick up Emma over an hour ago. He apparently even had problems just picking their daughter up from a house fifteen minutes away from their own. 

She sat down on the bed and picked up a framed picture from her bedside table. It held a picture of Seth and Emma last year on a day they spent at the beach. It was such an adorable picture, one that Summer loved. She loved how much Emma resembled Seth. Seth had always told her when she was pregnant that he wanted all of their kids to look like her. She, though never having expressed this to Seth, had always wished their kids would look like him. The thought of mini-Seth Cohen's running had always been an idea that delighted her.

Now, at that moment, she wasn't so sure about that. She hoped that the whole trait of breaking promises wasn't something that was hereditary. If it was, she hoped that it had skipped over Emma and that she wasn't going to give birth to one with that trait. No one should have to go through broken and forgotten promises.

Summer carefully placed the picture back on the bedside table, then picked up the one that was next to it. It was a picture of the day that Emma was born, with Summer holding her and Seth sitting on the bed beside her. She remembered that moment perfectly.

* * *

_Summer was lying in a hospital bed, holding her newborn baby in her arms. She couldn't believe that she was a mother. She had so much time to prepare for that and she still couldn't believe it. Still, it didn't matter that she couldn't believe it, because it was something she was so happy and excited about. Her and Seth were parents. This was something she had always wanted and had only wanted to happen with him. _

_Seth looked at the baby that Summer was holding in her arms. She was their baby. He wasn't sure how he felt about that because sometimes he still felt like a little kid himself. Then he looked at the look of happiness and excitement on Summer's face and he felt himself growing more excited. This was something new for them, something that was going to be good. Years later, he still couldn't believe he had finally gotten Summer Roberts, and this definitely made him think back to the days when he was in love with her without her actually knowing who he was. He was secretly hoping that their daughter would find a guy to love her like he loved Summer and she was able to have a love like the two did._

_Neither could take their eyes off of their beautiful little girl. She was so mesmerizing to both of them. Finally Seth tore his eyes away from her and looked at Summer. He opened his mouth to say something except at that moment there was a knock on the door. Sandy and Kirsten came in the room, both smiling brightly at the couple._

_"Let me see my granddaughter," Kirsten immediately went over to Summer and started to look at the baby, she getting captured under the adorable baby's spell._

_"Congratulations son," Sandy patted his son on the back, happy for both of them._

_"So what did you name her?" Kirsten asked._

_Summer looked over at Seth. They had never really picked out a name, they just had a few random choices here or there, but nothing that really fit. Now the baby was here and currently nameless._

_"Emma Grace," Seth blurted out, casting a glance at Summer. He knew that he and Summer hadn't really discussed a name for her yet, but he just felt that Emma was the name for their daughter. Seth, Summer and Emma. He liked the way that it sounded._

_Summer smiled at him. She loved that name and loved it even more since Seth picked it out. It was perfect. "Emma Grace Cohen. It's perfect."_

_Kirsten and Sandy looked at their son and daughter-in-law and their granddaughter and couldn't help but smile. They looked like the perfect family, the love of the two going to be the envy of many different people. Kirsten took this opportunity to pull her camera out of her purse so she could take pictures._

_"Okay, guys, look at me."_

_Both Seth and Summer turned to smile at the camera. Kirsten started taking multiple pictures of the family. While she was in the middle of doing this, Seth turned and looked at Summer._

_"I love you so much Summer,"he whispered quietly in her ear._

_"I love you too."_

_At that moment, Summer felt like she was experiencing the perfect moment. It was a moment that she was always going to remember and never want to change._

* * *

Summer placed the picture back. She would give anything at that moment to have that perfect moment back. It was only alive in the picture and she wondered if she was only going to be able to relive her perfect moments through pictures. She sat in deep thought about this for a moment, wondering if things could go back. She wanted to so desperately to go back.

* * *

Seth practically ran around the store searching for the perfect thing to give Summer. It had to be ten times better than anything he would have normally given her on their anniversary. 

"Emma, did you find anything Mommy would want?" Seth asked, so desperate he was asking a four-year old.

"No," Emma replied in a bored voice. She was trailing next to Seth, clutching desperately onto his hand. He was walking so fast it was difficult for her much smaller legs to keep up.

"Okay, well that's not helping," Seth muttered.

A woman suddenly stepped into his field of vision, which normally would have just really annoyed him, but then he noticed the name tag that she was wearing.

"Is there any way I can help you sir?" the woman asked.

"Yes... Lola, you can actually. I'm looking for an anniversary gift for my wife," Seth replied.

"Oh, when is your anniversary?"

"He forgot!" Emma said, desperately wanting to get into the conversation.

Lola looked at him, her smiling face now replaced with a darken looked. "Well then we're going to have to find a very nice gift if you forgot. May I suggest something from our jewelry department?"

Seth sighed and nodded his head. Hopefully jewelry would be the solution.

* * *

Summer continued sitting on the bed after she studied the pictures, not really having anything else to do with herself. She was bored, something that hadn't happened since she had been married. Seth always came up with something, but now...he spent an hour and a half picking up their daughter. She didn't even know anyone besides Taylor that she would even consider talking to, except Taylor was probably busy chasing Josh around the house and taking care of Molly. 

As she was thinking about all of this, Seth and Emma snuck inside the house. Seth made a motion to Emma to make sure she was quiet. She giggled quietly, not sure what was going on but she thought it was lots of fun. She was walking quietly, like a mouse, just like her dad told her too. He came up with some really fun games sometimes for them to play, and Emma definitely liked this one a lot.

Seth looked around the room and realized that Summer was downstairs which was a good thing. He quietly put Emma's bags on the floor and continued up the stairs, only pausing a moment to pick up Emma because the way she was walking it was going to take them a year to get up the stairs.

Summer decided that she was going to take a nap, something she had not been able to do since Emma was born. She hadn't slept to much the night before, so it was the perfect opportunity to make up for that.

Seth walked quietly up the stairs and opened up the bedroom door. He saw Summer laying on the bed with her eyes closed and he had to wonder how long she had been asleep. He wanted to know why she was asleep, because Summer really didn't sleep in the middle of the day. She was always on the go. He thought for a minute about maybe surprising her later until Emma made that decision for him.

"Hi Mommy!" the little girl practically jumped out of Seth's arms, so he put her down before he had to make a hospital visit.

Summer's eyes immediately opened when she heard her daughter's voice, all thoughts of a nap forgotten. She saw Emma standing right by the bed, smiling brightly. She looked around the room for Seth, but she didn't see him anywhere.

"Where's Daddy Em?" Summer asked.

Emma just giggled in response. She was doing exactly what her father told her to do, wait with her mom while he went and got what they had bought for her. He told her not to say anything about where he was, so she was going to make sure she didn't. "Daddy bought me a pony."

"A what?"Summer asked, hoping to God that she was talking about a pony that was plastic and not a real one. She wasn't too sure, because when it came to Emma asking Seth for something, he would just melt and buy her anything. Summer had to agree with that though, considering it happened to her just as often.

Emma held up the package that she was holding in her hand, showing off her new toy to her mom. "Her name's Fizzy Pop"

"Huh. Very interesting name," Summer replied. "So where's Daddy again?"

"I dunno," Emma rocked back and forth on her heels, smiling.

Just then Seth came into the room┘or at least Summer thought it was Seth. At that moment, she could only see legs as the majority of his top half was covered by dozens of roses he was carrying in his arms.

"Seth!?"

"Yea, I could use a little help here!" Seth exclaimed as he almost walked into the wall.

Summer went and took two of the bouquets of flowers off the top so he could now completely see. He maneuvered himself to the bed and dropped the rest. "Happy anniversary"

Summer's mouth literally dropped open in surprise. A day after the fact he was bringing her roses? A part of her really wanted to run and kiss him because it was a sweet gesture, but the other more dominant part of her remembered the lonely night she had the night before.

Seth apparently thought she was going to come and hug him as he stood there grinning for a minute. When Summer just stood there, he wasn't going to lie: he was confused. This was not what he was expecting. He decided to give her what else he had gotten her because he knew she would really like that.

"I also got you this," Seth walked over and handed her a velvet box.

Summer looked at him with questioning eyes, then opened it. She gasped as she saw what was inside of it. A beautiful necklace was inside; it had a heart shape at the top and seven diamonds cascading down from the heart.

"Seth..."Summer trailed off. She wasn't sure what she was going to say. She was so confused and unsure of what to do. What she knew they needed to do was talk and that was exactly what she planned to do. "Emma, honey, do you think you could go and play with your new pony? I need to talk to Daddy right now."

"Okay," Emma said cheerfully, being to young to realize what was going on between her parents. She walked away, already playing with the pony as she went.

"Do you not like the necklace?" Seth asked.

"No, Seth, it's just...you forgot our anniversary."

"I know Summer and I feel terrible that I did. It was so stupid of me and I never meant to do that to you. Things have been so hectic at work lately and I was all wrapped up in that."

"Yea, I know," Summer said softly.

"And I'm trying to make it up to you. See, I got six dozen roses, one for each year we've been married."

"Seth, we've only been married for five years," Summer felt her temper rising again. It was one thing to forget, but to forget how many years was another thing entirely.

"Really? Only five," Seth paused for a minute and seemed to be counting in his head. "Shit, Summer, I'm sorry. God, could I have screwed this up anymore?"

"Yea, actually Seth, you already did," Summer said, surprised at what was coming out of her mouth. "I talked to you last night about you forgetting. Did you really think that I missed Emma so much that I needed to sleep in her bed, when I could have been in my own bed with my husband on our anniversary?"

Seth stood, stunned at what she was telling him. He wasn't entirely sure how to approach this one. He had no recollection of her talking to him last night. Maybe he had drunk more than he actually thought he had last night.

Summer stood facing Seth, willing him to say something. She wanted him to say something, anything. Just something for her to really know that he still cared, he still wanted her. He didn't do anything. He stood there, looking directly at her, staring into her eyes, but it didn't mean a thing, at least not to her.

"I'm going to go and make some lunch. Come down whenever you're ready," Summer said softly, walking out of the room. She cast one last glance at her husband then closed the door behind her. She leaned against it, tears falling out of her eyes. She was falling apart.

* * *

A/N- Well I certainly ended that chapter on a pleasant note...Thanks again for all the reviews. I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter so please review! 


	3. Hundred

Disclaimer: Don't own The O.C. The song lyrics in the beginning are from Hundred by The Fray. Oh, and if there's a such thing as Barbie car racing, which I have no clue if there is, I don't own that either.

* * *

_So this is where you are  
And this is where I am  
Somewhere between  
Unsure and a hundred_

Summer was really starting to hate her life. In the few weeks since the whole anniversary fiasco, Seth had rarely said more than a word a day to Summer. It was like all of the sudden he was the one who got to be mad, which made Summer even madder than she was before. They were in two completely different places at that moment in their lives and she hated that.

And then there was the fact that she was pregnant and still hadn't said anything to Seth. She knew she needed to tell him but she couldn't bring herself to do so. It was just something to big to tell him in two seconds and then have him leave. They had tried for the last three years to have another baby, so this was something important to them both. She wanted to tell him when the time was right and this definitely was not the right time.

She needed someone to talk to and she certainly couldn't talk to Seth and she wasn't going to talk with her four year old daughter. That was how she found herself and Emma going to Ryan and Taylor's house two Saturday's later.

Lucky for them, when they went Josh and Molly were spending the day with Julie Cooper and Frank Atwood, who loved taking the two children every once in a while. According to them, Josh and Molly were perfect angels. This finally allowed for Summer to talk to someone...her only problem was she wasn't talking.

"Summer, are you sure you don't want anything?" Taylor asked as the two sat in the kitchen.

"Yea, I'm fine," Summer responded quietly. She wanted to talk to Taylor, she really did. She was just afraid that once she voiced what was happening aloud, it would become that much more real. So far, just keeping it to herself didn't make it seem that real, but if she was to say something to Taylor...

"And you don't want to talk? About anything? Like how you came here unannounced, sans Seth?"

Summer glared. "You really don't beat around the bush with anything, do you?"

"It's never really been my nature,"Taylor shrugged. "Seriously, though, if you want to talk, I'm here. Only if you really want to. It's entirely up to you. If you wanted to talk that is.

"I get it Taylor. Let's go and see how Emma and Ryan are doing."

Summer got up and walked into the living room where they had left Emma and Ryan to play some sort of video game that Seth had bought Emma. As she took a seat on the chair opposite the couch, she was reminded how much Emma was like Seth. It was kind of cute to her, how much their personalities were the same. They did so many of the same things, something that Summer loved to watch when the two were together.

"Mommy look!" Emma exclaimed when her mom walked in the room, only taking her eyes off of the screen for a brief moment.

Summer looked at the game, which seemed to involve Barbie and car racing. "Are you winning?"

Emma didn't respond right away concentrating on the game instead. After a few more minutes of play, she jumped off the couch excitedly. "Uncle RyRy, I won!"

"Damn," Ryan muttered. "Summer, she's too good. You need to take these away."

"Mommy, Uncle RyRy said a bad word," Emma looked at her mother expecting her to say something. She always did whenever her mom said a bad word and she got especially mad when Emma herself repeated a bad word she had heard he mom say on the phone.

Summer ignored her though and was just staring at her lap. She was thinking about how Emma had called Ryan 'Uncle RyRy', which was nothing unusual, as she always referred to him as that. It would have been unusual for her to call him Uncle Ryan. No, she was thinking about the first time that name had ever come into use.

* * *

_Summer and Seth were sitting on the bed in the hospital, Seth holding Emma in his arms.Summer was just watching the two, loving the image in front of her. _

_There was a soft knocking on the door and Taylor peeked her head around the side of the door._

_"Hey, can we come in and see her?" Taylor asked, already letting herself in the room, not really waiting for an answer._

_"Of course you can just come in Taylor. Anytime. Next time don't even bother knocking," Seth replied, as Ryan came into the room behind Taylor._

_"Oh my God, she's precious,"Taylor said softly, not acknowledging what Seth had just said to her. "So what did you name her?"_

_"Emma Grace Cohen," Summer responded, smiling at Seth. She loved that name more and more each time she said it. It sounded so perfect, she felt she had never heard a name so perfect before- aside from Mrs. Summer Cohen._

_"That is the cutest name ever! Can I hold her?"_

_Summer nodded her head, slightly hesitant for a moment. She watched Seth hand Emma carefully to Taylor an didn't take her eyes off of the baby for a second._

_It was quiet in the room for a moment as all of them focused on Emma. Taylor was the one who finally broke the silence._

_"She's so beautiful. You guys are so lucky."_

_"No," Ryan said._

_"No what?"_

_"We are not having one." He knew exactly what she was thinking as she was holding Emma. He was not ready to have a baby. They had only been married for 4 months, a baby was not something he wanted yet. "We can watch this one, okay? For now at least."_

_Taylor looked down at Emma and smiled. "Yea, that works for me too."_

_"So Ryan I was thinking I have the perfect name for Emma to call you when she's old enough,"Seth started. "Uncle RyRy."_

_Ryan groaned. Leave it up to Seth to think up a name like that. He knew it was going to end up sticking, now that Seth had mentioned it once. He decided not to argue it, or at least not at that moment. Maybe when Emma was older and actually had to refer to him as anything._

_"And then I was thinking," Seth continued, "that when you have kids they could call me Uncle SeSe...wait a second. No, that doesn't works. Your kids will just call me Uncle Seth. Yea, Uncle Seth works very well for me."_

_Everyone laughed at Seth, who then started to laugh himself. Summer looked around the room at her closest friends and her one true love. She realized at that moment what true happiness was_.

* * *

Summer looked up from her lap, tears in her eyes from thinking of such a happy memory. She couldn't believe that her and Seth had changed so much in the four yearssince Emma had been born. She wondered where everything had gone wrong, when they're amazing love had changed so completely. This thought was so upsetting to her, she couldn't handle it anymore. She didn't care if talking made it that much more real, she just couldn't hold it in any longer. 

"Taylor?" her voice cracked slightly when she opened her mouth, it almost sounding like it belonged to someone completely different.

Taylor immediately looked at Summer and saw the look on her face. "Do you want to talk now?"

Summer nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak. She didn't want to break down in front of her daughter, that was something she vowed she never would do. Not only that, but she didn't want her to have any clue of what was going on. Summer wanted her life to stay as normal as possible even though her parents were fighting.

"Emma, honey, do you think you could go in Molly's room for a little while? Why don't you play with the dolls you have here for a little while? I think Uncle RyRy's a tired of losing," Taylor said to the little girl.

"Okay," Emma got off the couch and walked away, completely oblivious, exactly how Summer wanted her to be.

As soon as Emma was out of the room, Taylor rushed over to Summer's side. "Okay, Sum, what's wrong?"

"It's me and Seth," Summer let her tears fall. "He forgot our anniversary and we haven't talked since he tried to make up to me the day after."

"He forgot your anniversary!" Taylor couldn't believe it. She had thought Seth would never forgot something like that. He cared so much about Summer.

"Actually, he forgot twice. When he came home that night I told him but then the next morning he had forgot that we had even talked."

"Yea, I reminded him," Ryan said.

"Well, I'm glad that at least you remembered. God, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break down crying, I just couldn't hold it in much longer." Summer looked up at her best friend, tears still in her eyes. Even though she was miserable, it felt good to at least let it out, to let someone know what she had been bottling up the past two weeks.

"Don't apologize Summer. Seth should be the one apologizing," Taylor told her. "I can't believe he did that."

"I don't mind as much now...well yea I do. I just really miss him. A lot," Summer said softly. "I haven't been able to tell him anything, like that I'm pregnant." Summer had said the last part without even realizing what she was saying. It just kind of slipped out of her mouth. She had really no intention of saying it out loud at all.

"You're pregnant! Summer, that's so good!" Taylor squealed happily, hugging her best friend.

"Yea, just what the world needs. Another miniaturized Seth Cohen," Ryan joked. "Good luck."

Summer ignored Ryan's comment. "Are you really sure that;s a good thing though? He;s never home anymore, so I haven;t even told him yet. This is like the worse time ever for something like this to come up, considering Seth's not actually speaking to me. Or I'm not speaking to him. Whatever, we're just not talking."

"Tell him. Maybe it will fix things between you two."

"I hope so," she sighed. Maybe telling Seth would make everything better. She could only hope, because hope was all that she had left at that moment.

* * *

Seth was annoyed at everything in the world at that moment. Any little thing at the office seemed to be setting him off lately, like when the one intern had brought him a sandwich with the wrong kind of bread and he had gone completely off on the poor girl. That was the moment when he took a step back and looked at his life and what the hell he was doing. He had turned into one of those guys, one of those guys he had never wanted to be. He needed help, so he did what he thought was the best idea at that moment: go and talk to Ryan. 

He left work during his lunch break, something he had never done before, usually working through his break. He knocked frantically on their door until Ryan came and opened it.

"Hey Seth," Ryan greeted. "So nice of you to drop by. Look Taylor, the other half of the Cohen family is here."

"Summer's here? Where?" Seth looked around the room for her.

"She's in the guest room, sleeping," Taylor said this to Ryan but was looking at Seth, a glare set on her face.

"Why is she here sleeping? We have a bed at our house. She could have easily slept there."

"Yea, well she came to talk to me. She was tired so she's now asleep."

Ryan stood off to the side, not really sure where this all was going to go. He was just a little worried. Seth didn't look at all like he normally did, probably considering he wasn't talking with Summer.

"I screwed up," Seth admitted after a few minutes of Taylor glaring at him. He slumped down onto the couch. "God, did I ever screw up."

"Yea, you did," Taylor agreed with him.

"I tried to make up with her. I gave her roses and a necklace...I tried to make it better."

"Flowers and jewelry? That's how you tried to make it up to her? That was stupid." Taylor shook her head at him, wondering when guys were going to learn that flowers and jewelry never fixed a thing.

"I was just trying. It was an attempt, apparently not a very good attempt," Seth sighed. "Summer won't talk to me. I want to fix this all. I need to fix all this. But she's so pissed off at me lately that I don't know what to do."

"Probably because she's pregnant," Taylor said, clamping her hand over her mouth once she realized what she had said.

"She's what now?!"

"Oh boy," Ryan muttered. "This is not going to go well. This is not going to go well at all."

"Oops," Taylor said, blushing furiously now. That was a mistake Summer was going to be very angry with her.

"She told you that she was pregnant? And she hasn't told me?"

"She said you're never home anymore," Taylor replied quietly.

"I need to talk to Summer. Right now."

Seth headed towards the guest room, but Ryan shocked him by stepping in front of him. "She's really upset right now. Why don't you go back to work, come home on time and talk to Summer then."

"Are you sure I can't talk to her right now?"

"No, give her time. She wasn't really to happy with you earlier, so let her have a little time," Taylor advised.

"Okay. Fine, I'm going to go back to work now," Seth got off the couch. "Bye." Ryan and Taylor watched Seth slump out of the house, then Ryan shot Taylor a look.

"You can tell Summer that you told Seth."

Taylor sighed. She was so screwed.

* * *

Summer went home after falling asleep for two hours and took Taylor's advice. She was going to tell Seth tonight, she had already kept this from him for too long. This was supposed to be a happy time, not a miserable one. 

As she made dinner, she kept smiling to herself, thinking how great tonight was going to be. She just knew that it was going to fix everything, that everything was going to be okay again. -  
Seth looked at the clock and then at the pile that was on the end of his desk. He had a ton of paperwork left, due to all of his coworkers were incompetent idiots. He seriously was beginning to wonder how they were ever even hired.

He had exactly ten minutes before he got out of work and had about two, maybe three hours of work left to do. He wanted to get home to Summer, they desperately needed to talk. He had to make a choice, he wasn't sure which one to make.

He looked up at the clock again, the seconds ticking by slowly, taunting him. He sucked at making decisions as of late, so no wonder this one was becoming difficult for him to make.

He looked once more at that damn clock that just kept ticking away. He just didn't know what to do.

* * *

Summer looked up at the clock, wondering if Seth was actually going to come home on time today. Though she didn't want to be thinking it, suddenly doubt was creeping into her mind. She was so unsure of Seth as of late. She was hoping that he would actually come home on time. 

She heard the front door open and heard Emma's little running footsteps headed towards there. Summer walked out the kitchen and saw a scene that made her smile. Seth was standing in the doorway, hugging Emma, who was smiling at the sight of actually seeing her father before she went to bed that night.

"Hey," Summer said, walking towards her husband, the smile still lighting up her face.

"Hey," Seth replied, though his face was rather stoic. He put Emma back on the ground."Em, why don't you go wash up for dinner?"

"Okay Daddy," Emma skipped away out of the room, leaving Summer and Seth alone.

Seth had decided back at the office that he wasn't going to skirt around the issue. They needed to talk, he needed to know why she kept this from him. "So I heard you're pregnant."

Summer's eyes opened wide in shock. "How do you know?"

"Taylor."

"I'm going to kill her," Summer muttered, not believing that her best friend would betray her like that.

"Do you want to fill me in on why she and Ryan both knew before I was even told?" Seth asked. He looked at Summer and she could see the fierce look in his eyes, his anger being reflected through them.

Seeing him angry made Summer's temper flare up. She couldn't believe that he would even dare to be angry, after everything she was putting up with lately. He had no right.

"Summer?"

"Do you know that this is the first time in nearly a month that you've been home on time?" Summer asked. "Did you realize that all those times that you haven't been home on time, you've called once, maybe twice?"

"What does that have anything to do with you not informing me that you're pregnant?!" Seth exclaimed, unable to keep his emotions inside any longer. He couldn't believe that Summer would keep something like this from him, when this was something that they had wanted for the past three years.

"Because you haven't been there. You're never home and you forgot our anniversary," Summer said softly. "I didn't want to tell you something so happy, something we wanted when you're never here. I wanted the time to be right."

"Summer, I can't believe that you're going back to our anniversary. How many times have I told you that I'm sorry?"

"That was such an important night to me Seth. That was when I was going to tell you that I was pregnant, because it would have made it that much better. You didn't come home until 2:30 in the morning and I wasn't going to tell you then. Especially considering you were drunk and most likely wouldn't have remembered what I told you in the morning anyways."

"I would have remembered."

"Yea, then can you tell me the conversation we had that night?"

Seth stood, thinking deeply for a minute. He didn't really remember too much from that night, except for the fact that he broke the coat stand, which he still didn't understand. He-though if told this to Summer she would probably kill him- he didn't even remember talking to Summer.

"See, you don't remember,"Summer shook her head sadly. "What's the point of telling you something when you won't remember it?"

"Well, when were you going to tell me? When you were going into labor were you just going to go 'Oh, Seth by the way, I'm pregnant and going into labor?'"

"God, Seth I was going to tell you! You know now so why are you so worked up?"

"You didn't tell me. I had to hear it from Taylor! How do you think I felt, hearing her tell me that my wife is pregnant with my kid?"

"How do you think I feel with my husband never being home at night, especially when I need him or when our daughter wants her daddy to tuck her in and say goodnight to her?"

The two stood in the middle of the room, neither moving a muscle. Summer was standing with her hair in her face, her arms crossed over her chest, her faces wet with tears of frustration and anger. Seth leaning against the wall now, resting his head on it, thinking of what Summer had said to him and what he had said to her.

Emma came back into the room, happy to see her parents both at home. She didn't sense that a thing was wrong when she entered the room, oblivious to the fight that had just occurred.

"Mommy, can we eat?" she looked at her mother.

"Yea, honey. Let's go," Summer ushered her daughter into the kitchen, leaving Seth behind.

Seth straightened himself out and started to walk slowly to the kitchen. He didn't know what to do, he wasn't sure where everything had gone wrong. All he knew was that he was going to try to bring them back to what they once were.

* * *

A/N-Just wanted to say thanks for the reviews for the previous chapter, I appreciate it. And thanks to Meg for reading this for me! Oh, and because I shamelessly enjoy self-advertising...I wrote a season 1 Seth and Summer oneshot the other day...okay done with the shameless self-advertising. Please review! 


	4. Let Go

Disclaimer: I don't own the O.C. and obviously don't own the lyrics at the beginning, those are from Let Go by Frou Frou.

_

* * *

So, let go, let go  
Jump in  
Oh well, what you waiting for?  
It's all right  
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown_

Seth sat on the couch in the living room, unable to focus on his paperwork. He had been sitting there since 7:30, not know what else to do. Summer had him put Emma to bed and she had disappeared into their bedroom, not coming out since. He figured she had gone to sleep and he decided to just leave her be.

He threw down the pile of papers, unable to look at them any longer. He needed to do something else, anything else, as long as it took his mind off of his failing marriage. He picked the newspaper that was on the coffee table in front of him. He skimmed it for a few minutes, having already read what interested him earlier that day. Finally he came across the crossword puzzle and decided to have a go at it.

Seth sighed. His mind immediately thought of the word anniversary, as that was all that had really been on his mind as of late. He wrote the word in then went on to the next one.

Seth groaned throwing the crossword puzzle down. Crosswords weren't really his thing anyways. He looked around the living room, wanting to find some other form of entertainment. His eyes rested on the remote control and he picked it up. He didn't really watch a lot of television as of late, so he wasn't too sure what was on. He decided to turn the TV on just to see if there was anything good.

"Crap. Worse than crap," Seth muttered as he flipped through the channels. "Oh, boy just what I want to watch, how to get great abs!"

He flipped through a few more times, until realizing that it was a waste of his time and turned it off. He leaned his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes and just started to think.

Summer was the first thought that came into his mind. He was trying to figure out what had happened to the two of them. They had been perfect-well almost perfect. Now all of this was going on and he didn't know what happened to what they once were. He shouldn't have forgotten their anniversary, that was a given. But he couldn't really figure out why else Summer was so mad, because she couldn't have been that mad at him just for forgetting. He tried to think back to the scarce conversations they had been having the past few days, not really remembering her saying anything. Something Ryan had said earlier that day did stick out in his mind…something about him getting home from work on time.

That was when he realized that it was probably because of work. He even had to admit that the workload was getting worse as of late, causing him to be later. That was probably it.

He stood up and decided he was going to go and talk to her. He was going to go to their room and tell her that he loved her and that he was sorry and he was going to try harder and maybe add a few other things, just because. He started to head up the stairs, intending to go and talk to her right away. He had his hand on the doorknob and running through his mind was what he was going to say to Summer.

That was when he heard the loud sound of thunder. He closed his eyes for a minute, hoping that just this once it would go unnoticed. Of course though, his hopes were crushed when he heard soft cries coming from the next room. He sighed, knowing talking to Summer was going to have to wait.

Seth quietly opened the door to Emma's room and saw her sitting up in her bed, clutching her favorite teddy bear, and crying.

"Daddy!" she climbed into his lap as he sat down on her bed.

"Shh, Emma, it's all right," he slowly rocked her back and forth.

Another loud crash from the sky was heard and she cried harder. Seth knew that she wasn't going to calm down until the storm was over, unless he did what he always did. He had to sing to her, something that had been able to calm her down since she was just a baby. For some reason, it had always worked, though only for him, never with Summer.

As he started singing softly to her, he thought back to that first night that he sang to his little girl.

* * *

_"Seth," Summer groaned over Emma's loud cries. _

"What?" Seth replied, not enjoying being interrupted especially when he was having a particularly nice dream.

"Go please."

"Why?" Seth whined.

"Because I'm exhausted and have barely slept at all in the past few days as someone keeps giving me the excuse that he has to work the next day."

"I have to work tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's Sunday. There's no way you're getting out of this one," Summer replied, hitting him with her pillow. "Just go."

Seth got up, realizing it was a lost battle. He trudged out of the room and into the next room. He looked at the wailing baby for a moment before picking her up.

"Hey baby girl," he said. "Wanna stop crying so I can go back to bed?"

The obvious response he got was more crying. He sighed heavily, trying to think of what to do. He hadn't really done this much yet, it was still new to him. He was afraid of dropping her or doing something wrong still. Summer had reassured him that he would be fine, that he would be a great dad. That was easy for her to say, considering she was already acting like the perfect mother.

He rocked the little baby, trying to make the crying stop. He softly started singing, just an Death Cab song that had been stuck in his head all day. Normally, he was not much of a singing, but at this moment he was so exhausted, it didn't matter to him.

As he continued singing, he noticed that Emma's cries were growing softer. He stopped for a minute and they grew louder again. He sang again, louder this time and her cries almost completely subsided.

"So my singing makes your tears stop? Well usually they have the opposite affect on people, but hey, whatever works."

He sang, he didn't know for how long, but he just kept on going. Finally he realized that the crying had stopped and he looked down at his daughter to see her now sleeping soundly. He moved quickly, placing her back down and just watched her for a minute.

"Goodnight baby girl."

He quietly left the room and went back to his bed. He laid down and kissed Summer's cheek softly and wrapping his arm around her. She opened her eyes and looked over at him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Seth apologized softly, hoping she wasn't mad.A tired, angry Summer was something that he really didn't want to experince tonight.

"No, I was up. I wanted to make sure that you didn't do anything destructive to our child," Summer commented.

"Then why didn't you just get up and take care of her if you didn't trust me?"

"Because I was really enjoying listening to you sing to her."

Seth cleared his throat. "You heard that?"

"Baby monitor was on the whole time."

"Ah, of course. Should have thought of that before I started singing," Seth said.

"No, I thought it was really cute," Summer replied. "You were great with her."

"Thanks," Seth said as he yawned loudly. Both he and Summer settled down to sleep, but as he was just about to fall asleep he thought of something.

"Summer?"

"Mhmm?"

"Our daughter has great taste in music."

* * *

The storm outside continued, so Seth kept on singing. He would sing until the storm blew over or until she fell asleep, whichever came first. He would do anything to make sure his baby girl was okay.

* * *

Summer tossed and turned in her bed, unable to actually fall asleep. Seth had yet to come to bed, which was hurting her more than when he was out instead of with her. 

She laid in bed for a minute and just listened to the wind blowing outside. She soon heard the soft sound of the rain hitting the house and got up. She walked to the window and opened it, the smell of the rain filling her nostrils. She loved that smell. It was so refreshing. She loved the smell of the rain, the sound of it, everything about it. Most people couldn't stand the rain, but she had grown to love it.

That was when she saw the large flash of lightning, followed by the loud boom of thunder. Her mind immediately went to Emma, who hated thunderstorms. She knew that if she went in there to try and calm her down, her attempts would be futile. No one was able to calm her down except for Seth. She could try for hours but it wouldn't work until her daddy came and sang to her.

Summer went to her room anyways, figuring she could make an attempt. She opened the door quietly and was about to enter when a sight took her by surprise.

Seth was sitting on Emma's bed, holding her in his arms and singing to her. She could tell that Emma was still awake as her eyes were wide and alert, but she wasn't crying though her face was tear stained.

Summer decided to not go in but just stood and watched the two interact. She loved doing that. Emma was her daddy's little girl, it showed when they were together. She loved when he sang to her, it was so sweet and adorable. It was one of her favorite pastimes.

She didn't know how long she stood in the door for, she just didn't move from her spot. She knew that when the storm blew over and Emma had fallen asleep that it had been a while.

Seth tucked Emma in her bed, kissing her again. He headed to the door where he was surprised to see that Summer was standing, watching him. He gave her a questioning look and she just smiled at him, then turned and walked out of the room, Seth followed, softly shutting Emma's door behind him.

"How long were you there for?" Seth asked.

Summer looked at him. He had a tired look in his eyes and his hair was all over the place. He looked different, but in a good way. He didn't look like the guy he had been for the past few months, he looked like her Cohen.

While Summer was thinking about this all, something inside of her let go of everything. Everything that had happened in the past few months she let go of.

Without a moment of hesitation, Summer pressed her lips to his. Seth was surprised, but he didn't pull away from her, instead deepening the kiss. As things intensified, Seth slowly took control and lead Summer into their bedroom, shutting everything else out.

* * *

"…and then there was a more theatrical part of the dream where we all dancing with flashlights and our names appeared on the ceiling." 

Summer smiled slightly as she rested her head on Seth, listening to him tell her all about some random dreams he had been having lately. She was just listening, not saying a thing to him in response.

She had missed this. Just listening to him ramble on about the most random things in the world, however annoying it eventually got, she loved to just hear him, or at least tonight. Maybe it was because of the lack of talking between the two as of late or because she possibly deep down really did love this all, she wasn't sure.

She was loving every minute she was just spending with him. Even if it only lasted a night because at that moment, she was okay with it. She would be okay with it just because if only for a night, he was her Cohen again.


	5. Shh

Disclaimer: Don't own the O.C. or the lyrics those are from Shh by Frou Frou. I also don't own Dora the Explorer.

A/N-So this is kind of a filler chapter, like the previous one, but this one actually has a point at the end, and is probably better than the previous one. I just wanted to say that I'm probably not going to be able to update this for about a month as I have a lot going on in November, but if I get a chance I'll probably update this. So thanks again to Meg for proofreading and for the reviews!

* * *

_Don't make a sound  
Shh listen  
Keep your head down  
We're not safe yet_

Summer opened her eyes slowly, then closed them again. She didn't feel like getting up yet. It was so nice and comfy in her bed, with Seth next to her.

Speaking-or rather thinking- of Seth, Summer turned over to wake him up, thinking of the previous night and how she would like for it to happen again. To her surprise, he was no longer laying there. His spot was completely empty.

She furrowed her brow in confusion. She thought that he would have at least stayed in bed until she woke up. She hoped that he didn't go in to work, because if he did, she might just have to kill him.

She quickly got out of bed, throwing on the sweatpants she had been the night before and Seth's t-shirt. She went downstairs and as she neared the kitchen she heard laughter, Seth's laughter. She walked into the kitchen to see Seth standing at the counter with Emma on a stool next to him, both of them covered in flour.

"Hey what are you guys doing?" Summer asked, walking over to them in interest.

"Mommy!" Emma squealed, though not happily. "No, you can't see!"

"Why not?"

"Emma wants to surprise you," Seth filled in.

"Oh, I'm sorry Em. I didn't know," Summer covered her eye with her hands. "I didn't see a thing."

"Go back upstairs," Seth commanded. "We'll be up after we clean up."

Summer walked out of the room slowly, as she still had her hands over her eyes. As soon as she was back upstairs, she laughed and smiled at what they were doing. It was so cute, especially considering Seth was trying to cook.

She picked up the magazine that was on her bedside table and began reading it, patiently waiting for Seth and Emma to come up to her. After nearly a half hour, she was getting anxious because for once, whatever Seth was making smelled pretty good and it was making her hungry. She was about ready to leave the room and investigate when Seth entered the room with a tray, smiling brightly. He was still covered in the flour but it didn't seem to phase him.

"Where have you been?" she asked as he placed the tray on top of the dresser.

"Well, after Em and I finished making the pancakes, I had to clean her up, which took forever because she decided that she's going to be a rebellious kid instead of waiting when she's a teenager and was being a big pain in the ass for me. So it took me a half hour just to get her in and out of the bath tub. If your pancakes are cold, its because of her."

"I'm sure they're good," Summer said, not sure if she trusted the pancakes warm or cold. Seth didn't cook often and when he did, it wasn't usually very good. That's what Summer did, thankfully she was fortunate enough to be able to cook or else they would probably starve.

"It looks like you forced yourself to say that," Seth said laughing. He leaned down and started kissing Summer.

"Seth, you're all gross,"Summer whined, indicating his covered clothes.

"Ah, so this is the return I get for making you breakfast in bed? I don't even get to kiss you?"

"No," Summer shook her head, though she found herself faltering as he pouted at her.

He kissed her again, this time longer and more passionate then before. He could tell that she was going to give into him, she never could resist him.

"Seth," she tried once more."Please you're covered in flour."

Seth got a sly look on his face. "How about you come and take a shower with me?"

"Our four year old daughter is home,"she replied, glaring at him.

"She was home last night."

"She was asleep then. It didn't matter as much."

"C'mon Sum. She's watching Dora. You know how much that entertains her. She'd be watching Dora all day if we let her. She's a rather enthralling Spanish speaking cartoon. And technically she's learning too. So it's like we both win."

"That made absolutely no point," Summer said, though she was smiling at him now. He leaned in and kissed her again. After a few minutes of this, Summer realized how much she wanted him, right then. "Screw the shower."

"I knew I'd break you down."

Before their lips could even meet again, they heard the sound of feet running towards their room. Seth groaned unhappily.

"She's watching Dora. She never leaves the television when Dora's on. Why now?"

"You also forgot to factor in that she's your daughter and four years old and has a short attention span. You have to realize Dora isn't always going to do the trick."

"Mommy? Daddy?" Emma opened the door slightly.

"Come on in baby," Summer called, much to the unhappiness of Seth.

Emma came into the room, dressed in a rather eccentric outfit. She had a pair of bright pink leggings on, a green skirt, and a orange t-shirt on.

"What the hell is she wearing?" Summer looked directly at Seth.

"Uh, I let her pick her own outfit out?"

Summer shook her head. Of course Seth's daughter would choose to wear something like this. She had tried to depress this type of thing from her daughter, but apparently it wasn't going to happen.

"I look pretty," Emma said.

"Yes, you look beautiful," Summer agreed. She would work on her daughter's sense of style later.

"I thought you were watching Dora Em."

"Dora's done."

"Didn't think of that did you?" Summer smirked at Seth.

"There isn't another one on?" Seth asked.

Emma shook her head. "Nope."

"Go take a shower Seth," Summer directed. "But first bring the pancakes over here. I'm hungry and I'm sure that you didn't give any to Emma.■

Seth opened his mouth to defend himself then closed it. "Damn, that's what I forgot."

Emma climbed up on the bed with her mother. She loved spending time with her parents, it was something that she loved doing more than anything else. Even more than watching Dora.

Summer kissed the top of Emma's head before starting to eat. She didn't care if the pancakes tasted terrible-which they kind of did- and she didn't care that her daughter had interrupted her time with Seth. So far, she didn't care about anything, she just loved today.

* * *

Summer looked over at Seth, who was laying next to her in bed, softly stroking her hair. She loved moments like these. It was later in the evening and they were just lounging around the house. Emma was currently sleeping, though she had tried to fight both her parents on this. They were happy for the peace and quiet because for some reason, Emma had decided to be extremely hyper.

"Hey Cohen?" Summer said, smiling at herself as she said his name. She hadn't used it in so long, it felt good to use it for a change. It felt so much more natural.

"Yea?"Seth stopped for a minute, changing his eyes to focus on hers.

"Are you excited about the baby?" Summer asked quietly. She wasn't sure why she was asking she just had to know what his exact feelings on it were. There hadn't been much talking the previous night and now they had the time.

"Of course I'm excited," Seth replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Summer shrugged. She wasn't exactly sure why he wouldn't be. It was a big thing for them though, as they had always wanted to have another baby and it hadn't happened. Now, it was happening, and Summer wanted to make sure everything was perfect.

"Don't doubt that. I think it's the greatest thing that could have happened to us," Seth continued. "I'm just worried about one thing."

"What's that?"

"What are we going to tell Emma?"

Summer thought about this for a minute. She hadn't even considered this, not once had it even crossed her mind. "That's a really good question. I didn't even think about what we were going to tell her. How's she going to react to us telling her that she's going to get a sibling?"

"I'm guessing not well. She's been an only child for almost five years. I can't see this going well,"Seth commented.

"Oh well. We'll figure it all out. She'll grow used to it eventually, I guess," Summer shrugged.

Suddenly their door opened and Emma walked inside. Summer quickly pulled the covers up over her and Seth more.

"Em, what are you doing in here?" Summer asked.

"There's loud noises," Emma whined, rubbing her eyes.

"There's no thunder, that's all done,"Seth said. Though the rain had continued all day, the thunder had stopped.

"There's somethin' else," Emma replied. "A monster!"

"Seth, maybe you should go and investigate,"Summer nudged him.

"Oh, yea, cause that's going to work so well, me trying to get out of bed without raising many questions I don't want to answer for a really long time," Seth replied.

"Mommy."

"How do you suppose this is going to work?"

"Hey, baby girl, why don't you go back in your bed, and Mommy and Daddy will be right there."

"No," Emma replied. "There's a monster."

Summer sighed, then looked at Seth. He shook his head, refusing to move. Summer groaned, not wanting to move from her comfortable spot, but she knew she was going to have to. "Fine I'll go but I'm taking the blanket from you."

Summer threw him a pillow, then wrapped herself in the blanket. She attempted to put her clothes back on while still clutching the blanket, which turned out to be quite a feat.

"Mommy, where's your clothes?" Emma asked, looking at her mother with curiosity.

"They...uh...got dirty"Summer replied.

She heard Seth snicker from his spot on the bed. She glared at him, then threw the blanket back at him. She grabbed Emma's hand and walked to Emma's room.

"Okay, Em, where are these monsters?"

"I dunno," Emma shrugged her shoulders and just stared around the room in fright.

Summer looked around the whole room, trying to pacify Emma so she could go back to bed. "Okay, there's no monsters anywhere. I think that those noises you heard were just part of your imagination sweetie."

"Nu-uh," Emma shook her head furiously. "They were there!"

Summer shook her head, already knowing that she was losing this one. Arguing with a four year old was a lot like arguing with Seth. "Do you want to come and sleep with Daddy and me?"

Emma nodded her head, already gathering her pillow and teddy bear. She carried them back to the bedroom, Summer following her. She smiled as she saw Seth's reaction to having to share his bed tonight and as she watched Emma jump next to her father. She wouldn't trade this for anything.

* * *

Seth walked into the kitchen, trying to stifle a yawn. He looked at Summer who was sitting at the kitchen table, watching Emma eat her breakfast.

"Good morning,"she greeted cheerfully.

Seth grunted in response, not wanting to talk. He was so exhausted, having barely slept the night before. Emma was restless in her sleep and was constantly kicking him and moving around and for a little kid, she took up nearly all the blankets, something that mystified him more than anything. Then she had woke up at four o'clock in the morning having had another nightmare and refused to let him go to back to sleep. To top the whole fantastic night off, only he had to endure all of that, as Summer had left the room almost as soon as Emma had fallen asleep.

"How'd you sleep?"

"How do you think I slept?" Seth responded. He desperately needed coffee.

"Well, I was thinking we could go out to breakfast after we bring Emma to preschool," Summer said.

"Yea, sure," Seth sat down at the table, putting his head down while waiting for his coffee to be finished.

"Are you really going to wear that to work?" Summer asked suddenly looking down at what Seth was wearing.

Seth reviewed his outfit. "What's wrong with it?"

"That tie doesn't match your shirt at all."

"So?"

"It looks bad. And it doesn't match."

"Ah, see that's where I don't particularly care. I got so little sleep that at this moment I could be wearing my bathrobe and I would go to work," Seth looked down at his tie again. "And it does too match."

Summer threw her hands up in defeat. It was a lost cause. "Well, fine. Don't listen to me. We have to go bring Emma now."

"But what about my coffee?" Seth whined.

"We'll get you some when we go out," Summer replied."Emma do you have everything?"

"Uh-huh," Emma nodded her head.

"Seth do you have everything?"

"What? Um...no. Have you seen my bag?"

"Its in the living room next to the couch."

"Oh right," Seth said, running into the living room.

Summer rolled her eyes, then grabbed Emma's hand and brought her out to the car. She had just finished buckling her in when she heard someone yell her name.

"Summer!" she turned to look and saw her neighbor Dylan running towards her.

Dylan had lived next door to them since they had moved in and was by far the best neighbor Summer could ever imagine having. He was nice and helpful, always willing to baby-sit Emma if Ryan and Taylor couldn't. Seth didn't like him to much, though only because he was constantly critiquing his choice of what to wear.

"Hey Dylan," she greeted.

"Oh my God, I love your shoes!" Dylan exclaimed. "Anyways, that's not why I ran all the way over here. I was wondering if Seth was around. I could use his help. And I could actually use your help, but Seth's help is more important."

"He's getting his bag," Summer said. "He'll probably be right out. What do you need his help with?"

"Well, yesterday my old friend from high school, back when I lived on the East Coast, has come to live with me. She just divorced her husband and she has two little boys and has no where to stay, so I told her to come and live with me. I think she really needs a change of pace. And she has this really big dresser that I can't move into the house myself so I was wondering if Seth could help me with it."

"What is Seth going to help you with?" Seth came over to the two.

"Thank God!" Dylan exclaimed. "Can you help me move this dresser?"

"I'm not really built for heavy lifting."

"Oh and you think I am? Please just help me and I promise I will refrain from saying anything about your outfit that you picked out for today," Dylan pleaded.

"Fine, but if I break something, you can't charge me."

"Whatevs. Just come on".

"I'll be right back Summer," Seth said.

"Go ahead take your time," Summer replied, excited to see Seth actually attempt to help Dylan. This was one of those moments she wished she had popcorn. "Ready to watch Daddy make a fool of himself Em?"

Emma just giggled in response, recalling the day that her dad had tried to move her new dollhouse into her room. She hoped that it would be something like that .

Summer watched them slowly accomplish bringing the dresser to the porch. She laughed slightly when they couldn't get it through the door but once they go it through, she thought everything was going to be okay or at least she hoped. That was until she saw Seth limping off of the front porch.

"What happened?"

"He," Seth indicated Dylan, "dropped the thing a little to soon and it landed on my toe."

"I'm so sorry!"

"Yea, you probably did it because you hate my shoes."

"No,"Dylan paused,"well, I do hate your shoes, but it was a complete accident. I would never purposefully drop something on you like that even though those shoes so do not match your shirt. And your tie doesn't match either."

"I thought you weren't going to say anything about my clothes."

Summer laughed at the two, realizing how ridiculous this all was. Seth gave her a strange look, wondering why she was laughing at his pain. Then he thought about how truly ridiculous the whole thing truly was and joined in on her laughter. Emma just started laughing, feeling left out of the whole thing. Dylan was the only one not finding the humor in the situation.

"Dylan?" a woman came running out of the house followed by two identical little boys. "Is everything okay? We heard a crash..."

She stopped in front of where they were standing and looked at Seth for a minute. "Seth?"

Seth stopped laughing and looked at the women. Realization hit him almost immediately. "Olivia?"

Olivia immediately threw herself into his arms, taking Seth by surprise, but he let her.

Summer had realized who she was immediately and glared at the women. She watched as she saw her husband enter a part of the past, a part of the past that she didn't ever want to think about.


	6. Fall Away

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize, including the song lyrics at the beginning, those are from Fall Away by The Fray

A/N-Sorry I took so long to update this. I'm a really bad procrastinator sometimes. But I had a revelation about what I want to happen so hopefully I'll stop procrastinating. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate them. And thanks to Meg for reading this over for me!

* * *

_You fall away from your past  
But it's following you_

Summer fixed Seth with a glare. Sometimes her husband truly was an idiot. She hated to admit it but she had married an idiot.

After they learned that Olivia was Dylan's new housemate that morning her and Seth had started talking, causing Seth to ditch his and Summer's breakfast plan. She went to take Emma to school and when she came home, he had gone to work.

She had sat the whole day doing nothing, thinking about how that girl was now her new neighbor. She went back and forth in her mind on what she thought. Most of the time it was bad because she was reminded of all that had happened with Olivia before.

So finally she settled, in her mind, that she hated Olivia. She also decided that even though they were neighbors, they really didn't have to spend time together. The only time they really saw Dylan was when he babysat for them, so they could just get a new babysitter. It was really quite simple, actually.

That was, of course, until Seth arrived home announcing that he had invited Olivia and her two sons, Phineas and Preston, over for dinner. That was why Seth was currently receiving her glare and the title of an idiot.

Having to spend time with Olivia was really and truly the last thing she had wanted to do that night. She had just wanted to sit down and relax with Seth and Emma, order take out and have a movie night in, something they hadn't done in a while. Instead she had to actually make something for someone she really didn't want to.

The only bright side of the whole thing was Seth had actually come home on time that night. She wanted to at least try and fight Seth on this whole thing. Maybe she would be able to convince him otherwise. If that didn't work...well rage blackouts were still a common thing that helped convince him to listen to her.

"Seth do we really have to have her over for dinner?"

"Yea. I invited her over."

"But you know how I feel about her."

"That all happened almost five years ago."

"It feels like yesterday to me," Summer muttered.

"She's new here. She's never lived here before and the only person she knows besides us is Dylan and really you can't spend too much time with him," Seth commented.

"She can make new friends. The Newspies are accepting."

Seth just gave her a look. Even Summer had to admit that was a completely ridiculous thing to say. She knew she was slowly losing this battle.

"Please just for tonight. She really wants to spend some time with you. She feels that you never really let her have the chance to be friends."

"You know I so regret not being her best friend. And to think of all of those days we missed shopping, going to see movies, all that great best friend type of thing."

"Please just for one night. I swear it will be the only one. Then we'll go our separate paths. This can just be a welcome to the neighborhood type of dinner. Then we'll just exchange the normal neighborly wave in the morning, the occasional invite to a party type of thing. Does that sound good?"

"Fine," Summer sighed, hoping that what Seth had said would be true. She supposed one dinner would be fine.

* * *

Summer was hating her thoughts from earlier. 'One dinner would be fine.' Sometimes she seriously wondered where she got these things from. It was the longest night of her life. It was even longer than the night Seth had a little too much to drink and decided to join in with Sandy on the karaoke. She actually preferred that night at the present moment.

She was currently sitting with Seth and Olivia, who were reminiscing about their college years. They were talking about times that Summer didn't know about as she hadn't been there or people she had only met once or twice before.

She rolled her eyes as they told the story of the guy who ran into the sliding glass doors. That story had been shared twice already and yet they kept going back to it. Summer was just annoyed with hearing it. Really it wasn't that funny. People ran into doors all the time.

She looked down on the floor where Emma was playing quietly with her dolls. Next to her Olivia's twin boys, Phineas and Preston, who were a year older than Emma. They were more rambunctious than Emma was, bouncing around the room and knocking and breaking things. Summer was lucky that she didn't have any really expensive breakables out due to the fact that Ryan and Taylor's kids were over often and had a tendency to break things also.

Summer sighed, resting her head in her hand. She shifted her gaze to look at Olivia, who was sitting on the couch next to Seth. She realized that she was dangerously close to her husband. She felt anger bubble up inside of her and almost got up and moved in between the two.

Then she thought about how this was only for one night. One night and then Olivia would just be the neighbor they saw and waved to once in a while. She could handle that.

She looked back to the small space in between the two. That she couldn't handle. She really was annoyed with having to sit there watching Olivia. She stood up abruptly from her chair, causing Seth's attention to shift to her.

"Are you okay Summer?" Seth asked, notable concern in his voice.

"Yea, I'm just kind of tired. I had a lot to do tonight, you know," she replied.

Seth stood up and kissed Summer's cheek gently. "Goodnight. I love you."

Summer smiled as he turned away from her and sat back down. Her smile grew ever larger when she saw that he had moved himself to the end of the couch and was now farther away from Olivia. That at least made her feel slightly better as she started up the stairs. She knew that he probably just did that to appease her, he could probably tell that she disliked how close the two were. She was thankful that Seth at least did that for her.

She changed into more comfortable clothes, the clothes that she wished she had been wearing the whole night. As she slipped into the bed, deep under the covers, she started to think. The thoughts that had been constant in her mind for the past few hours were still there. The presence of Olivia worried her, especially when thinking of all that had previously happened.

* * *

_Summer paced back and forth of the living room of her small apartment building. To call Seth or to not call Seth? This was the hardest question she had been faced with all day._

_She picked up the phone, started to dial his number, then hung back up again. She repeated this a few more times before unplugging the phone and sitting on the couch._

_It had been two days since she had last seen Seth. It had been two days since she had watched him go on a plane to complete his final year of college. She had stayed behind in Newport this year. It had been a tough decision as she had been living with him since she had finished her year with GEORGE. The two years had been nice but she realized that this year, she had to stay in Newport. She had been offered a job with an activist program. She didn't want to give this up and as hard as it had been to see Seth go, she knew that it had to happen._

_Still now that she was sitting alone in her apartment she wasn't so sure. Things were so quiet with Seth gone. She had told herself she wouldn't continually call him, it would make things harder. Everything would be ten times more difficult on both of them if they were constantly calling one another and had to hear their voices but not seeing them. So she decided that she wasn't going to call him for a few more days._

_But then again, he had yet to call her. This thought entered her head and immediately started worrying her. He was worse than she was when they were away from each other, calling her practically every five minutes to make sure she was doing all right._

_Maybe something had happened to him. She sat up abruptly and picked up the phone. She had to make sure that he was okay._

_She dialed his number and listened to the phone ring and ring and ring. Finally it stopped ringing and someone picked up. Someone who wasn't Seth. Someone who definitely didn't sound like a man._

_"Hello?"_

_"Um...did I get the right number?" Summer said, wondering if maybe in two days she had forgotten his number._

_"Are you looking for Seth?"_

_"Yea."_

_"Oh, well he's in the bathroom. He just left when his phone started ringing."_

_"Oh. Okay. I'll just wait until he comes back then."_

_The awkward silence that ensued after this was one of the worst that she had experienced. She wanted to know who this girl was but she refrained from asking._

_"So if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" the girl on the other end beat her to this question._

_"I'm Summer, Seth's girlfriend," she replied. She couldn't help the nasty tone that her voice took on when she said this. "And you are?"_

_"Oh. I'm Olivia." Summer noticed the tone that this girl had, one that mirrored her own nasty tone, but had a hint of something else that she couldn't exactly place.  
"Seth hasn't ever mentioned you."_

_That stung Summer a lot. More than she thought something like that would. She told herself to not let it bother her, but yet it still stuck in her head, echoing over and over again. She heard movement in the room, realizing that Seth was probably back in the room. Sure enough a moment later, she heard the phone being passed over._

_"Hello?"_

_"Hey Cohen," Summer greeted, excited she finally got to hear his voice. She let all thoughts of Seth not mentioning her to his new friend Olivia and anything about Olivia leave her mind._

_"Summer," he sounded surprised that she had called him. "I didn't expect you to call."_

_"I'm sorry is it a bad time?" Summer asked._

_"No, it's fine. I'd talk to you anytime anyways," Seth replied. "So what's up?"_

_"Nothing really," Summer said, picking invisible lint off of the shirt she was wearing. "I just missed you."_

_"I miss you too Summer. I'm sorry that I haven't called, everything's been crazy here for the past two days."_

_"Yea, here too." Summer decided to not include that she hadn't done much. She went to work then came home to her lonely and quiet apartment and sat alone. That was what her life had become and she was pretty sure it was going to stay that way until Cohen came back to Newport._

_"Hey, I'm really sorry but a bunch of us are going out now. Can I call you back later?"_

_"Yea, sure. That's fine. I'll talk to you later then."_

_"Okay bye. Love you."_

_"I love you, too Cohen," Summer replied, than realized that she had just told the dial tone that she loved it._

_She sighed as she placed the phone down. She looked around the empty room. She had never felt more alone._

* * *

Summer was reminded of that lonely night as she laid in bed, hearing the distant sounds of Seth and Olivia's laughter. She hated this feeling. She hated this sudden distrust she was feeling about Seth. She knew that it was all just her imagination overreacting. She tried to make it stop, but somehow she just couldn't forget the things from the past.

She had a feeling that their past was revisiting them and not in a good way.

She closed her eyes, trying to make all of these thoughts leave her mind. She just needed to forget everything. Seth was right, she needed to forgive and forget. She wondered how hard it was going to be, considering nothing seemed to have changed.

She heard the loud distant laughter and once again felt the feeling of being alone. Alone. She hated that word. She shouldn't have to be alone. And yet she was.


	7. Nothing Lasts Forever

Disclaimer: Anything that is recognizable I don't own. The song lyrics are from Nothing is Forever by Maroon 5

A/N-I'm kind of proud that it only took me like two weeks to update this. But unfortunately my stupid computer is making what I refer to as the angry exploding noises, so we have to send it away to get it fixed. Therefore I really don't know when I'm going to get it back, so I don't really know when I'll be able to update again. I promise, though, as soon as I get it back I will update it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and thanks to Meg for reading this over!

* * *

_Everyday  
With every worthless word we get more far away  
The distance between us makes it so hard to stay_

Despite all that Seth had told her about Olivia leaving their lives, several weeks later she was still hanging around the house. More or less, she was hanging around Seth.

All that Summer would say to him, would just be brushed off. According to him, she was just paranoid and unable to forget and forgive things in the past. She was so sick of it and so sick of fighting it.

So the morning that Seth came downstairs, a bright cheerful smile lighting up his face, she knew something was up, most likely having to do with Olivia. She waited until he came up to her, looking like a little kid who wanted to ask for something big from his parents, before she said anything to him.

"It has to do with Olivia, doesn't it?"

"What has to do with Olivia?"

"What you're about to ask me."

"Oh my beautiful darling Summer, what makes you think that?"

"Just a hunch that I'm getting."

"Well maybe your hunch is wrong."

"What do you want then?"

"I was wondering if you could go shopping with Olivia," Seth asked somewhat sheepishly.

"Are you serious?"

"Yea. I mean she doesn't really have anyone here except for her kids and Dylan, who she hates shopping with."

"Today she wants to go shopping?"

"Uh-huh."

"I don't know Seth. I'm not feeling all that well today," Summer replied, sputtering off the first excuse that came to her mind. "Please Summer? I...kind of already told her that you would be willing to go with her."

"Seth!"

"Please, only for a few hours. You'll have fun. You love shopping. It's fun remember?"

Summer sighed, realizing she was giving in now. "I'll go only if I can bring Emma. And Taylor and Molly."

"That sounds good considering I already told Olivia I would watch Phineas and Preston. Ryan's going to bring Josh over and we'll hang out."

"If you're really going to have those three kids over her, hide any breakables that they have left us."

"Okay. Olivia will be over at noon, I think she said. So go ahead and call Taylor. I'm sure you guys will have a really good time,"Seth said, giving her a quick kiss.

"It'll be a blast," Summer muttered, already hating the way her day was going.

* * *

Summer had long ago learned that shopping with Emma was difficult. Shopping with Emma, Taylor, Molly, and Olivia was ten times worse.

They were ten times more indecisive, ten times worse with the procrastination, and ten times more annoying. Her patience was already running out and they had only been shopping for an hour.

They were currently in the kid's store. Summer was trying to get Emma to try on a new party dress for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. That in itself was an adventure. Add in Taylor losing Molly, who had just discovered how good she was at running, every five minutes and Olivia hovering over her shoulder, she was almost positive she was going to go insane.

"Em, honey, just try on the dress. It will just take a minute, then you can take it right off," Summer said.

"No." Emma shook her head. She was standing in the middle of the dressing room, struggling against trying the dress on.

Summer sighed. She was going to have to resort to bribery. "I will take you to the toy store and buy you any toy you want."

Emma's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Only if you try that on and promise me you'll actually wear it for Thanksgiving at Grandma Kirsten and Grandpa Sandy's house."

"Okay," Emma finally agreed.

Summer smiled and closed the door, resting against it. Olivia came over and stood next to her.

"So I've been meaning to congratulate you on having another baby," Olivia said.

"Thanks." Summer beamed as she placed her hands on her stomach. Even though it was Olivia congratulating her, whenever someone mentioned the baby, she couldn't help but be happy and excited.

"I always wanted to have another kid. My ex-husband, not so much."

"How long were you two married?"

"Two years."

"Oh, so he wasn't Phineas and Preston's father?" Summer asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"No, their father isn't in the picture much right now,"Olivia replied.

Summer wanted to ask more but Emma opened the door at that moment, causing her attention to shift slightly. When she turned back around, there was a slight smile on Olivia's face, one that Summer recognized from a time before.

* * *

_Summer grinned widely as she stepped out of the cab, quickly paying the driver. She was so excited about the little plan that she had concocted._

_She had the whole weekend off of work and had decided to surprise Seth with a visit. She had been thinking about it for the past month, when she had first bought the plane ticket._

_She knew the apartment building well that she was entering. They had lived in it together for the past two years. She loved the familiar feeling that she was getting as she went up the stairs to their old apartment. It almost felt as if she had never left the place._

_She didn't bother knocking, out of habit of just entering the apartment. When she entered, she found a surprise of her own waiting inside._

_Seth was sitting on the couch, as she had almost expected him, but he was not alone. There was a girl sitting on the couch, an unfamiliar girl, with red hair and green eyes. She had no clue who this girl was and why she was sitting that close to her boyfriend._

_"Summer," Seth said, standing up and distancing himself from that girl. He had a look of surprise on his face, which was what Summer had wanted._

_What she hadn't wanted was the girl on the couch or the fact that she couldn't tell if the surprised look was a happy or unhappy one._

_"Hey Cohen." Her voice was flat, what excitement she had once had now gone._

_Seth shifted uncomfortably and Summer just looked at him. He wasn't saying anything about the girl sitting there and she certainly wasn't speaking up._

_"Um...this is Olivia. Olivia, this is Summer...my girlfriend."_

_Summer stared at the girl. Olivia. So this was the girl who was constantly answering Seth's phone for him. She already didn't like her._

_She also didn't like the fact that Seth had hesitated when adding that she was his girlfriend. That was definitely a major problem. He had always proudly proclaimed her his girlfriend. Now he almost seemed to be wishing that it wasn't true._

_No. No, that couldn't be true. It was Seth. Seth Cohen, the boy who had been in love with her since she was ten. It must be her mind playing tricks on her from the long plane ride. She was just hearing things. Definitely just hearing things._

_"Seth I'm just going to go now. I'll see you at Joel's, right?"_

_"Maybe," Seth replied, casting a quick glance at Summer."I'll call you."_

_"Okay," Olivia said, standing up."It was nice meeting you Summer. I hope we can hang out sometime, maybe next time you're here."_

_"Yea, that'd be great." Summer had perfected the fake smile over the years and it was not failing her now._

_"Bye Seth." Olivia waved then left the apartment._

_Seth and Summer just stared at one another for a moment. Both were unsure of what to do or say next. Summer had so many things she wanted to say at that moment but wasn't sure how she wanted to phrase them._

_Seth finally moved over to her and hugged her tightly. "Hey. I've really missed you."_

_"Really? It didn't seem like that." Summer backed away from his arms. She couldn't be all lovey-dovey with him that moment. There was too much going on in her mind._

_"I was just hanging out with a friend."_

_"Are you cheating on me?" Well. That wasn't exactly what she wanted to say, but it had come out._

_"God how could you even think that Summer? You know how much I love you. I can't believe you would even say something like that."_

_"You've just been dodging my phone calls lately and then I come in here and find you two all cuddled on the couch."_

_"Jesus Summer! We were hanging out. She's my friend," Seth said, the anger noticeable in his face._

_"I'm sorry...I just..." Summer trailed off, unable to think of way to voice her thoughts, her feelings, her worries, her concerns. All about their relationship and how she was pretty sure them being apart was destroying it. About how now, she was starting to doubt his love for her and was starting to think he wanted out. How she didn't feel so certain about their once certain future._

_"Whatever. I have a paper to write. We'll talk more later." Seth turned and went into the bedroom, slamming the door shut._

_Summer sat down on the beat up old couch, resting her head in her hands. She couldn't believe that she had been with Seth for ten minutes and they were in an argument. This was not how she imagined this surprise visit._

_She hadn't meant to say that to him. It came out suddenly. She hated that she even thought that and had to ask him about it. It was giving her the worst feeling._

_The worse part was that he had never denied it._

_There was a sudden knock on the door, pulling Summer out of her thoughts. She answered it and was somehow not surprised to see Olivia there._

_"Hey, I'm sorry, I just forget my purse," Olivia said, plastering a rather large, obnoxious smile on her face._

_Summer moved to the side to let her in the apartment. She grabbed her purse then turned to look at Summer._

_"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and I wanted to tell you Seth isn't cheating on you. I have a boyfriend."_

_"Oh."_

_"Yea, so no need to worry."_

_Summer didn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. She wasn't sure if she could. How was she to know what was the truth and what was a lie? She didn't know what to believe anymore._

_The bedroom door opened suddenly and Seth came out, jacket in hand. "Are you going to Joel's?"_

_"Um," Olivia looked at Summer. "Yea."_

_"I'm coming with you," Seth said, pulling his jacket on._

_"Okay." Olivia cast another glance at Summer. This time she didn't look uncertain of what to say, she almost looked happy. Happy about what? Summer couldn't help but keep this thought from her mind._

_"Bye. Don't wait up for me."_

_Olivia looked at Summer one last time and gave her a smile. This one wasn't fake or obnoxious. No, this one was somewhat evil. Almost a taunting smile, showing Summer that, at that moment, she had Seth._

_No, Summer definitely didn't know what to think anymore._

* * *

"Summer," Taylor called, taking Summer out of her trance. "I think we're going to get something to eat now."

"Oh," Summer replied, looking down at the dress in her hands, remembering what she was doing. "Let me go buy this."

Summer walked away from them, still thinking in her head. She didn't know what to do about Olivia now. That smile was bringing her back to that time, that time when she knew that Seth was cheating on her. Was he doing it again? That one smile was just bringing her back to her old world of insecurities.

After she bought the dress, the group ventured into the Food Court. Summer wanted to just sit, relax, and eat, but Emma had other ideas.

"Mommy, I want to play," she exclaimed, pointing to the small play area.

"Honey, not right now. Mommy's tired."

Emma crossed her small arms over her chest unhappily, a pose she had picked up from Summer when she was unhappy with Seth. She was glaring at Summer when Olivia spoke up.

"I'll take her over. And Molly too. You guys can sit and relax."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I don't mind," Olivia said as she took Molly out of her stroller. She grabbed Emma's hand and walked them over to the play area.

"Great now my daughter's in love with her too," Summer muttered.

"What's wrong with her liking Olivia? She's really nice."

"Not you too Taylor!"

"What? I think she's nice and I'm having a good day. I'm also thankful that she's taking Molly for a minute. I could really use that break."

"Don't you remember how she was the cause of all of mine and Seth's problems? She is, more or less, the reason that we broke up."

"Summer that was forever ago. Seth's okay with her, all those feelings are obviously gone. Plus you were broken up for two weeks. It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Two and a half," Summer stated stubbornly". And it was so a big deal."

"Maybe you should just forget everything. She obviously wants to be friends and make up for all that happened in the past."

"Yea but she gave me a smile-"

"Which is a friendly thing Summer. It's a gesture, a nice one, not evil."

Summer sighed leaning back in her seat. She wasn't being paranoid. She didn't care about what everyone was telling her. Olivia wanted her husband. She just wasn't certain if Seth had really buried all that had happened or if he wanted her too.


	8. Title and Registration

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own. The lyrics are from Title and Registration by Death Cab for Cutie.

A/N-Sorry it took me so long to update. My computer is now all fixed, which is definitely a good thing. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and thanks to Meg for proof-reading this for me (and for believing me about buying the alpaca, that made my day).

* * *

_And here I rest where  
Disappointment and regret collide  
Lying awake at night_

Seth walked into the kitchen and started his usual morning routine. Bagel. Coffee. Newspaper. Pissed off Summer glaring at him.

The last part used to be a good morning kiss from Summer. That had been replaced about a month before. Now he had the ever cheerful glare. He was actually starting to grow slightly used to it.

He looked over at the calendar hanging on the kitchen wall, noting that the date was December 31. New Year's Eve. A holiday he used to really enjoy. He didn't have to go to work. Ryan, Taylor, and the kids would come over and they usually had a great night. This New Year's Eve, he really wished he was at work and they had to go to some sort of party he really did not want to go.

Summer pulled down the newspaper to look at him. "I'm taking Emma to Jamie's house. We'll be back later."

"Okay," Seth replied, pulling the newspaper back up to finish the article he was reading and to try and remember which one of Emma's friends was Jamie. All the Newspie children were starting to look frighteningly familiar to him, he could never really tell the difference between one or the other. That so wasn't the biggest of his problems at the moment.

He listened to Summer walk away and heard the door slam loudly. He sighed, placing the newspaper back down. He spent a few hours around the house, trying to do anything to get his mind off of the problems. His mind just kept coming back to one thought.

He was sick and tired of Summer being angry with him. He didn't really know why. Well he sort of knew why or at least he had thought he did. At first, he had thought it was because of the whole forgetting their anniversary thing-which he didn't mean to do and had tired to make up for-and the late hours he had been working-though he had cut back on those slightly. He wanted to know why but he certainly was not going to be able to figure it out on his own. It was time for some much needed Seth-Ryan time.

He got in the car and started driving to Ryan's house, drumming his fingers along to the music on the steering wheel. He got there and ran to the door and was surprised when Ryan answered the door almost immediately. He was even more surprised at the quiet he heard from the inside.

"Hey Ryan. I was wondering if maybe you could spare possibly a few moments to talk to me. A little Seth-Ryan time, if you will. Anyways, I know that your children are rather hyper and all, which yes, I am still managing to shove this in your face as often as I can since my kid is quite, but I was thinking now was the time to share the words quiet and control with them. Just a thought. Though I've already noticed that it seems it is quiet right now and as it is not quiet naptime you may have finally discovered that teaching them these words is a smart idea."

"Done yet?"

"Uh, yea, I believe so."

"Okay, no we haven't shared the words quiet and control to them and probably never will. Taylor took them out somewhere, wasn't paying attention, since I really need some peace and quiet since I'm working from home today."

"You can spare a few minutes to talk can't you?" Seth asked, walking past Ryan into the house. "So, uh, your work isn't too important, right?"

"Well, actually it is-"

"Oh that's good, very good, it gives us time to talk."

"About your problems with Summer?"

"Uh no." Once it was actually said aloud, he couldn't actually face that he was having problems with her. Saying it in his head was a whole lot different than it actually being voiced.

"You and Summer aren't having problems at all."

"No."

"So that vase that she threatened to throw at you at Christmas was just what you two consider normal?"

Seth had forgotten about that. They had been arguing about something and then Summer had a rage blackout, threatening him with a vase. For a moment, he had really thought she was going to throw a vase. Now that he was remembering that, he realized that denying any problems he was having was completely useless.

"Okay, yea we're having some problems. Just you know a few, that involve threatening bodily harm, the usual. My only problem is that I don't really know why."

"You don't know."

"Yes, I do believe that is what I said. Well, I might now. I was thinking about it and the only thing that's changed in the past few months is Olivia. Of course, it wouldn't be her, so I'm just so lost."

"Wow. Taylor was right. You are an idiot."

"What now?"

"In case you didn't realize, Olivia is the problem."

"How the hell do you know this?"

"Summer has been over here a lot and Taylor basically repeats everything to me."

"Why is Olivia the problem? Give me some of this info Ryan. I'm going to die if I don't figure this out. Literally. Summer will kill me."

"Okay, just listen to me for a minute, I know its hard, but just do it," Ryan paused, letting this soak in. "Olivia, the girl who broke you and Summer up several years ago because you kind of cheated."

"But I didn't," Seth protested.

"Seth just admit it. It may have happened a few years ago, but you still did. Now Olivia's back and you've let her back into your life. Summer's reliving all that happened before and you're not doing to much to change this thought."

"Does Summer think I'm cheating on her?"

"Basically."

Seth sank down into a chair. He had no clue that Summer was thinking like this. He couldn't believe that she would even begin to think that. This was a major problem.

"Does that help you?"

"Yes. I can't believe this. In my defense, I really would not cheat on her again. And before, I never really meant to. I was stupid then."

"You're still stupid."

"Yea, I am."

"You still cheated on her then. Or at least to Summer you did. Though if I remember correctly, you did tell her everything that happened when you got back together right?"

Seth hesitated. "Well..."

"Wait a second. You didn't tell her all that happened?"

"Not exactly. I told her about the few times we ever kissed. I never told her the rest. I didn't think to since we were broken up when it happened. And the fact that even though we were broken up, she would have killed me. I would be six feet under, cold and dead if I did."

"Back track a little Seth. What didn't you tell Summer exactly."

Seth leaned back in the chair as he began to recount all that happened.

* * *

_Seth slammed the phone down, running his hands through his hair. Everything was becoming a hopeless lost cause._

_He had just been trying to book a flight to California. That was failing miserably. With only a week until Christmas, all flights were basically booked. He had originally never booked a flight, since he was originally going to spend it with Summer, who was going to come to his apartment for two weeks. He needed a plan to get to California._

_This plan was the only way he could think of as a way to get Summer back._

_A week ago, she had called him. He had thought it was just a normal phone call, at least that's how it started off to him. It took a bad turn when her voice had turned serious and she then proceeded to break up with him._

_Seth had asked her why. Sure he lived in another time zone. And yea, their relationship was kind of rocky and they had been fighting a lot more than normal. And Seth had definitely been experiencing more rage blackouts from her than what was normal. He figured it was just a transition thing. When they saw each for two whole weeks, everything would go back to normal._

_"I know you're cheating on me with Olivia. I was super pissed at first. But now, I'm just disappointed. I thought that you loved me, Cohen. I know I loved you and still do. I need to let you go though. This is what you want. Goodbye Cohen."_

_This was all that Seth had gotten before she hung up on him. These words had a lot of time-168 hours, a whole week- to be mulled over in his brain. The fact that he had probably slept for maybe 10 of those hours and was still functioning was an astounding thing to him._

_He had tried calling Summer, tried to apologize and make everything right. She either had her phone off or didn't pick up. After 20 desperate and pathetic sounding voicemails, he stopped. He couldn't lie to her or himself anymore._

_Yes he had cheated on Summer. It just wasn't as intense as he was sure Summer probably thought it was._

_He had kissed Olivia a total of five times. Each time he had told himself it was a bad idea. Each time, in his mind, he had pictured Olivia as Summer._

_It had never gone past that. He always realized almost immediately what he was doing. The truth of the whole matter, it was all more of an emotional thing than anything physical._

_It was just the fact that Olivia was a constant person in his life. She was always there. That was how he found himself caring about her way more than he ever should have. It was why he found himself trying to push Summer away while still trying to keep her close._

_Most of all, he found that his fear of Summer leaving him was the most to blame. He had this fear of her changing her mind on loving him, considering he had left her in California. She was still gorgeous, as he told her everyday, and he was still┘just Seth in his mind. He still had that fear in his mind that he was going to wake up and realize that the last six years had been a dream._

_Now he no longer had Summer, just what he had feared. Except that the fault was his own, not because she realized that there was someone else out there who was better for her. Now this plan that he had devised seemed to be the only way for him to prevent this from being a permanent breakup._

_He fingered the object he had been carrying in his pocket, just as a reminder. He took it out and after a careful minute of studying it, threw it across the room. Who the hell was he kidding? This plan was in no way going to work. Summer was done with him. He was throwing in the white flag._

_He picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number._

_"Hey Olivia. Do you think you could come over? And bring a lot of alcohol?"_

_

* * *

_

_That phone call was how Seth ended up in a predicament he never wanted to be in._

_Seth groaned as the bright sunlight started streaming into his room. He groaned even louder when he felt the large aching pain in his head._

_Then he felt an arm drape across him, causing one immense bout of confusion. For a fleeting second, he thought maybe Summer had come to him. Then he looked and instead of Summer's long brown hair, he saw the red hair that belonged to Olivia. That was also when he realized that he was wearing...well nothing. He was betting that Olivia was in the same state._

_He shut his eyes again, wishing that everything would go away. The headache. The nausea he was feeling. The bright, obnoxious sunlight. Olivia._

_He felt her stir next to him and when he opened his eyes again, she was staring at him, her green eyes boring into him._

_"Morning Seth." She smiled, leaning towards him, trying to kiss him but was stopped by Seth. "What's wrong?"_

_"Olivia...did we have sex last night?"_

_"You don't remember."_

_"No."_

_"Well, yea we did. After you told me..."Olivia trailed off._

_"Told you what?" Seth asked, lowering his voice a notch, hoping Olivia would get the hint because she was making his head ache more._

_"That you loved me."_

_"Fuck," Seth muttered. He could not believe he said that to her. He couldn't believe that she took him seriously. He had been way drunk, despite not remembering it, he definitely had been way drunk._

_"Did you not mean that?"_

_"Olivia, I probably thought you were Summer," Seth replied. That triggered something in his mind. "Oh shit. Summer. She's going to kill me."_

_"What does it matter? You're broken up."_

_"It doesn't make a difference. 'm going to go to California to get her back," Seth stated. Even though he had decided not to last night, well, he knew he had to. The fact that he was telling random girls he loved them, thinking they were Summer, when clearly Olivia and Summer didn't look a thing a like, just showed he needed her._

_"What's wrong with me? I'm here, not miles away and I'm not a total uppity California bitch."_

_"Olivia. You seriously need to leave right now." She had to leave. She was making his head ache worse and she really was the last person he wanted to see. He closed his eyes, listening to her gather her things and leave._

_He realized that this was officially the biggest mistake of his life, one he regretted deeply. He also realized that despite the current breakup that he was in, Summer was to going to take this to the extreme, and he didn't really blame her. It was basically going to ruin any chances he had of ever getting back with Summer-unless she never found out._

_He thought for a moment. Olivia and him were the only two who knew. She probably wasn't going to say anything, considering she had a boyfriend and this whole ordeal was probably incredibly embarrassing to her._

_In that moment, he made the decision. He was never going to tell Summer._

* * *

Seth looked up at Ryan when he finished his story and was a little surprised to see him laughing.

"What? Is my misery really that hilarious to you?"

"No, dude, its the fact that you are entirely screwed. Good luck with that. Now I really have to get to work. The best advice I can give you is that you should tell her. Better late then never."

"What? That's it? That didn't help me at all Ryan. Unless you want me dead, which I think is what you secretly want. Seriously. Remember when Seth-Ryan time actually benefited me? Ha. I wish that we had those times again."

"Well, it is the best advice I can give you. If she was to find out from someone else, then you would be in way worse with her."

"What are Summer and Olivia suddenly going to be best buddies? Yea, like that's going to happen. She's never going to find out from Olivia. And I've decided that I'm not going to tell her. You should give better advice.

"Whatever man. I have to get back to work. If you want some better advice, come back next week, when I have more time, though it will probably be the same. You can let yourself out."

"Yea, next week I might already be dead," Seth muttered.

He got up and left the house, getting in his car. He needed time to think, time alone where it was just him and his thoughts. And not in his house, where Summer and Emma would be. Somewhere that would just be him. He looked at the road ahead of him.

He slipped in a Death Cab for Cutie CD and started to drive. This was what he needed. He started to hum along to the music as he drove along.

He hadn't done this since Emma was a baby. Whenever he was left alone with her and she would cry and it seemed that there was no stopping her, Seth would put her in her car seat and start to drive. And of course, the music would have to be on, though he realized that his daughter had developed a good taste for music early. When he put in a Death Cab or Bright Eyes CD, her crying would almost immediately cease. When just the radio was left on, her crying would carry on until he got the hint. He credited this to the fact that when Summer had been pregnant and fell asleep, he could slip headphones on her stomach.

Seth then realized that Summer was pregnant again and he had yet do this. So far he had failed to do anything for Summer and their future second child.

Summer was his wife, the love of his life. He was her husband, though he sure hadn't been acting that way as of late.

He was officially the worst husband in the world.

What the hell had he been doing with Olivia? He had been almost fawning over the woman for the past several months. She was the one who had a hand in their screwed up relationship years ago. Why?

Deep down, he realized he knew why.

He was scared, once again, of losing Summer. This time, though, he was afraid of losing her because of his stupid mistakes, of which there were several.

Forgetting their anniversary.

Always coming home way too late.

Not being excited about the news of their second child.

Missing Emma's first dance recital.

Just not being there for Summer or Emma at all.

He didn't know how much longer Summer was going to be able to hold on to him. He knew he basically sucked as a husband and father as of late. When Olivia came back, he felt like he had several years before and couldn't shake that feeling.

Now he realized he was wrong. Way wrong. Summer wouldn't have left him because of his errors. No, he was just being his normal, stupid self.

He had to fix it. He had to get to Summer and tell her that he had nothing going on with Olivia. He was going to tell Summer that Olivia was officially going to be gone from their lives. He was going to make it right.

He hesitated in his mind, thinking back to the advice that Ryan had given him. Should he tell her that he had slept with Olivia? He didn't know. He weighed the options in his head.

If he didn't tell her, she most likely would never know, since Olivia pretty much avoided Summer and vice versa.

If he did tell her, there was a very good chance that he would find himself alone. He knew that Summer would leave him for this, despite the fact that they had been broken up. They had gotten back together several days after the fact, so it would almost be like they weren't broken up. And from what he knew, Summer had never done anything like this to him, even when broken up.

He was not going to tell Summer.

He looked down at the clock, surprised to see that it read 5 o'clock. He had left Ryan at 2; had he really been driving for 3 hours? It felt like five minutes. He had to get back home. He knew Summer wasn't going to wait for him much longer, for him to come to the party and for him to just be there again. He needed to get home.

He needed to get Summer back.


	9. Nothing Better

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I don't own. Lyrics are from Nothing Better by the Postal Service.

A/N-Okay, sorry it took a little longer to update this chapter. I'm also sorry to say it might be a while before the next update as my grandma fell and she can't watch my little cousin after school, so that job has been given to me for the next couple of weeks. On top of watching a really hyperactive six year old who enjoys singing High School Musical loudly some days, I have homework and school stuff to do too. So I'm hoping that I will get time to write the next chapter, but it may be a few more weeks before I get the oppurtinuty. When I do though, I promise I will update. I made this chapter extra long to attempt to make up for this. I wanted to say that I really appreciate those of you who have been reviewing the chapters, thank you for that. Also, thanks to Meg for editing the chapter for me.

_

* * *

__I know that I have made mistakes and I swear  
I'll never wrong you again_

_Beeepp._

Seth leaned on the horn of his car in anger once again. It was a pointless thing for him to do though, since traffic was backed up for miles. He wasn't really going anywhere, despite how many times he honked the horn.

Finally he just gave up and leaned back in his seat. This was something that would happen to him. He finally realized what an ass he was being to his wife and when he desperately wanted to get home to tell her this, he got stuck in an incredibly large traffic jam.

So maybe driving for three hours wasn't the best idea he had ever had. And the whole fact that it was basically in the middle of the time when everyone was leaving to go to their New Year's festivities didn't really help the matter.

He looked out the window to see how traffic was going and if maybe it was actually moving. Much to his surprise, it turned out that the cars had actually started going somewhere, except for the car directly in front of him.

He leaned out the window even more and started to yell at the car. "Hey! Get moving! Some of us actually have places to be."

He instantly regretted saying this, after he took a look at the guy-who was rather large and looked like he was experienced in the fighting department-started heading towards Seth, ignoring all the calls from cars behind them. This was the moment Seth really wished he could just drive away.

"What did you say?" the guy growled.

Seth sat in shock for a minute at the fact that a grown man actually growled. He had only ever heard Emma growl and that was when she was pretending to be a dog. He then decided to push the thoughts of his daughter being a dog away and decided to reply to the guy.

"Oh yea, sorry about that. I missed my anger management class and I wasn't controlling my anger like I should have. You look like the type of guy who knows about anger management...no? Oh, my mistake. Well, you can just get back in your car now, considering that people behind us are starting to get antsy. We can just forget that this ever happened."

The look on the guy's face made Seth realize that this was not going to happen.

* * *

Summer sighed as she settled back against the couch cushions. She was dressed up, at a party she didn't want to be at, without her husband.

It wasn't even midnight yet and she was already hating the new year. Something had to change. She couldn't handle this whole Seth problem much longer.

She knew that they needed to talk tonight. It was going to be the moment where she gave him an ultimatum-it was her or Olivia. She had tolerated this all too long.

Her heart clenched up at that thought of the end of their relationship. She couldn't not think about it though. Then she changed her mind to something else, no longer wanting to think about the coming talk. Instead she was thinking of the time before when Olivia had broken their relationship.

* * *

_Summer had picked her phone up and had started to dial Seth's number about 20 times before actually being able to complete it. She didn't want to have the conversation she knew they had to have. It could end in one of two ways and, at that moment, she wasn't sure which was it was going to go._

_Finally she was able to complete his number and called him. She listened to the ringing of the phone, both wanting and not wanting him to pick up._

_"Hello?" Seth's soft sleepy sounding voice rang into her ear._

_"Seth? Hey, it's Summer." She said this as if there was nothing wrong, as if she wasn't going to accuse him of cheating in a few more minutes._

_"Hey Sum." he now sounded considerably more awake to her. At least she had his attention. "I didn't think that you would call this late."_

_Summer looked at her clock, realizing that while it was almost 11 o'clock for her, it was about 2 for Seth. She hadn't factored this, hadn't realized that he was going to be sleeping._

_She almost hung up with him. Then she realized that she couldn't keep doing this, avoiding the problem, acting as if nothing was wrong with the two of them. She decided to just continue the conversation, despite the late hour. It was a conversation they needed to have._

_"Sorry I forgot about the time difference," she replied, silently adding about she was too worried about how this conversation was going to go then to consider the whole time thing.  
"'S okay," Seth said as he yawned into the phone. "You can call anytime you want."_

_Summer didn't respond, just started planning out what she was going to say next. Before she had a chance to say anything, he started talking again._

_"I miss you Summer," his voice was soft, almost acting like someone else was in the room. Summer cringed, wondering if Olivia was lying in bed next to him. "I don't think I can wait two more weeks to see you. It's really lonely here."_

_"Are you alone?"_

_"Of course I'm alone. It's 2 o'clock in the morning." She could hear the confusion in his voice. "Why would I not be alone?"_

_"Because...I know that you're cheating on me with Olivia." She took a deep breath before continuing. "And at first I was super pissed. But now I'm just disappointed. I thought that you loved me Cohen." She felt the tears spring to her eyes, but she didn't want to cry. "I know I loved you and still do." She paused for a brief moment, realizing that this, this was the moment that she was breaking up with him. She couldn't believe what she was about to do, but she had to continue on. There was no going back now. "I need to let you go though. Goodbye Cohen."_

_Before she could hear any protests from him, she hung up the phone. She couldn't let herself hear what he had to say. He would say things, things that she didn't want to hear. What she had just done, she told herself, was a good thing. It was what she wanted._

_What she couldn't figure out was, if this was what she wanted, then why did she feel like her heart had just left her chest? Why did she feel like nothing was there anymore?_

_Her phone started ringing and without looking down, she knew that it was flashing 'Cohen' with his picture above it. She just let it ring. She needed to hear it ring because for the time it rang she realized that maybe Seth wasn't as stupid as she thought he could be and maybe, just maybe he would try and fix things_.

* * *

Summer sat with this memory replaying over in her head. She didn't want that to happen again. She only hoped that Seth felt the same. She only hoped that they could try and fix things before they got even worse.

If these things didn't happen...she already knew how to handle a broken heart.

* * *

He was tired. He had a black eye forming and a major headache.

And of course, he was still stuck in the traffic jam from hell.

He couldn't believe how bad the traffic was. It seemed like cars were just materializing out of nowhere. The good news was, he was almost to where he needed to be. It was just the whole issue of getting there soon.

While he was waiting he started thinking about some romantic gesture he could come up with to make it up to her. That was, after all, what he did last time he needed to fix his relationship.

* * *

_Seth shook his legs nervously. What if she didn't show? What if she came, saw him, then left? What if-_

_He shook this thought from his head. He could not think about whatifs. They just were making him more nervous and freaked out than he was already. He had to calm down. The fact that he drank a lot of coffee-considering he was up the whole night worrying about how this evening was going to go-probably wasn't helping his nerves out much._

_He heard the door to the restaurant open and he stood up. He looked around the empty room, wondering if she was going to like this whole thing. He wasn't sure how his dad was going to react to the charges he had been making on the credit card. Granted, his father had given it to him to "make right of his stupid mistakes" when Seth asked for it, but he probably didn't know about the whole restaurant renting thing. He would deal with that later though._

_Summer came inside, though Taylor was practically pushing her through the door. Seth took one look at her and realized what a stupid idiot he had been being as of late. It didn't matter that she had been on the other side of the country. It was Summer. God, his dad was right. He was stupid._

_He watched Summer set her gaze upon him and turn to walk back out of the building. Thankfully, Taylor turned her right back around. She started talking to Summer quietly, though Seth could still hear what she was saying._

_"Summer, I know that you don't want to see him or anything right now-which I don't blame you for. Normally I would not have done something like this, but he called me and was really pathetic sounding so I gave him a chance." Seth wanted to break in to their conversation, then realized that most likely he had been pathetic sounding, so there was really no point in denying the truth. "Just give him one more chance."_

_Summer mumbled something that Seth couldn't hear. He was clued in when Taylor began to 'quietly' talk again._

_"I know that you've given him all the chances that he deserves. I think that he deserves just one more."_

_After a few more minutes of talking that Seth couldn't hear, Taylor gave Seth thumbs up. He took a deep breath and walked over to Summer._

_"Hey Summer," he greeted._

_Summer didn't reply, just walked over to the table Seth had just been at. Seth sighed. This was turning out to be harder than he thought. Though he knew that he was lucky to even have her in the same room as him. He was going to have to do everything right or there was the chance that he was going to lose her forever._

_Summer suddenly looked up at him after looking around the whole restaurant. "Where are all the other people?"_

_"I,uh, rented out the whole place."_

_"You rented out a whole restaurant?"_

_"I believe that's what I said."_

_Summer just gave a small "Oh", then started looking at the menu. Seth could see the hint of a smile tugging at her lips, but he wasn't sure if it was a "this is amazing, I can't believe that he did this" smile or a "he doesn't seriously believe I'm going to forgive him because he rented out a whole restaurant for me, does he?" smile. Hoping it was the former, he took a seat across from him and picked up his menu._

_Soon enough they had both ordered their dinners and without menus to occupy themselves, awkward silence ensued except for the music playing throughout the restaurant. Seth watched Summer take glances towards the door and he knew he was going to have to start begging for her forgiveness if he didn't want her to leave soon. He decided to just come out with it now or he was never going to be able to do it._

_"Summer, listen. I know you don't want to be here with me, and I really don't blame you. I've acted like the worst boyfriend ever for the past few months."_

_She didn't respond to this, though he heard a small noise of acknowledgement come from her at the last statement. He ignored this and started speaking again._

_"And we didn't really get to talk after...you know. We actually haven't had a lot of time to see each other and I realized that this was hard on both of us. And the lack of seeing you made me miss you more and more. I seriously had considered transferring within the first day of being away. Then I told myself that we would survive this, I mean we had survived the year you were at GEORGE and all."_

_"Is there a point to this Cohen?"_

_"Yes, there is. Okay, so I wasn't seeing you, I was missing you desperately. Then I met Olivia. And, I don't know, she reminded me of you. I started spending a lot of time with her and it made me miss you less. Then there was this one night where she kissed me."_

_Summer cut in at this point. "If you're just going to give me a play by play of your relationship with Olivia, I'm leaving." She picked up her purse and started to get up._

_"No, stop. That's not what I want to tell you. What I want to tell you is that's all that happened." He felt a slight twinge of guilt, but if he ever wanted her to actually forgive him, then what happened the previous week with Olivia was not going to be shared. "She kissed me. It wasn't like I slept with her or something. The kisses were a mistake, something that I regret more than anything in the world. And I might have cared a little for her, but now I realize that she was nothing. She might have really thought that there was something between the two of us, but that's not true. I don't know why I did what I did and I can make excuse after excuse, but none of them are going to be good enough. I was stupid, idiotic, an ass, and I am sure there are plenty more words that apply to me in this situation but I just can't think of them right now."_

_Seth watched her take all of this information in. Her facial expression didn't change over the minutes that he watched her. He wasn't sure if he had her back to him yet. He didn't know if it was enough or if it was just right. Then an idea came into his head. It might have just been all the caffeine from the coffee rushing to his brain, but he suddenly thought that he had the greatest idea ever._

_He grabbed Summer's hand and pulled her up much to her surprise._

_"Cohen, what the hell are you doing?"_

_"Just come with me for a moment." he pulled her outside of the restaurant and then looked down the street. He needed something to make this moment special, he needed people to be there to witness it. Where could he go?_

_Finally he spotted an ice cream stand, still open with a crowd of people standing around it. He noted the counter that stuck out far enough for someone to stand out. He started pulling a confused Summer along with him once again until they reached the stand._

_"Excuse me, excuse me," he said to all the people to get to the counter. He looked at the two young teenagers standing behind the counter, looking at him like he was crazy. "Do you mind if I borrow your counter for a minute?"_

_The two were too stunned to reply, so Seth started climbing onto the counter. He saw Summer come over to the counter, her mouth dropping in awe...or possibly embarrassment, at that point he wasn't really at all too sure. All he knew was that he was standing on top of a ice cream stand, in front of a group of people he didn't know and who didn't know him, about to profess his love for Summer._

_It almost felt like high school again._

_"Summer, I'm standing on top of this ice cream stand to tell you how much I love you. I know its not a coffee cart, but it's the best I could do on such short notice. I'm doing this to let you-and all of these people here who just really want their ice cream-that I love you. And I'm sorry for all the mistakes that I made, the ones from when we were in high school to the most recent mistakes I've made. I want you to know that I am willing to do something like this every time I make a mistake-except that this is the last time I plan on making a mistake or doing something stupid and idiotic. So I'm doing this just to show you how much I care." He stopped for a moment and pulled something out of his pocket. "And I wanted to know if you would marry me. I know that this is not what you thought you were going to get but I think that this is the next step. If you can just put this all behind you, then I want to marry you."_

_Seth looked down at Summer's shocked face. He could tell she didn't know what to do, but the people around them seemed to think she should accept his proposal. At this point, he really no longer cared if she accepted his proposal. He had just pulled that out because he had the ring in his pocket and he figured he might as well just give it his all at this moment._

_Summer gestured for Seth to come down and he could feel his heart sinking. She was going to tell him no, that she never wanted to see him again. Oh great, rejection in front of people he didn't know. This was just slightly embarrassing._

_When he came down from the counter, Summer kissed him softly on the lips, catching him completely off guard._

_"Wh-what?"_

_"Okay. We have a lot of things to talk about and I mean a lot. But that was incredibly sweet. And I have to admit," Summer looked down at her shoes for a moment before looking Seth in the eye again, "these two weeks have sucked. I've never missed you more before than I did. I was really hurt by what you did. And trust me, you're not completely out of the doghouse just yet."_

_"I don't care. I will do anything you want me to, just tell me and I will do it. As long as we're going to be together again...right?"_

_Summer nodded her head, smiling at him. Seth returned the smile, relief flooding through him. He realized that they did have a lot to talk about-the proposal, Olivia, what they were going to do, numerous things that he couldn't even think of-but they didn't matter at that moment. He had Summer back._

_He just knew that he couldn't screw up again or he would lose her forever. He vowed, to himself, that he would never do anything to hurt her again.__

* * *

_"You are the biggest idiot in the world," Seth muttered to himself. He had just remembered the promise he had made about not hurting Summer again. Well, he definitely did not keep up that promise. So he basically did suck as a husband. He really needed to make this up to Summer. The whole missing the party thing probably wasn't helping him to much at this moment. 

He looked out at the street. He was maybe 20 minutes away from the place where the party was being held. The way traffic was going at this moment it could be another half hour or even 45 minutes. He couldn't wait that long to see Summer. It could end up being longer even.

He didn't really know what possessed him to pull the car over into the parking lot that was nearby to him. He really wasn't sure what made him decide to leave his car in this parking lot and start running. He was starting to believe he was completely delusional.

Well, this was his romantic gesture to Summer. Running to see her. Hopefully, if she didn't like that or the black eye that he received, then maybe there would be something he could stand on to profess his love once again.

* * *

Summer was getting ready to leave the party. Seth hadn't shown at all, she was tired, and she was sure that the babysitter would be happy to leave before midnight.

The only thing that was reassuring her was that Olivia had been at the party the whole night, meaning that Seth wasn't with her. Granted, she had been giving Olivia dirty glares all night, but she figured she was allowed to do so.

As she was gathering her purse and her coat, she heard a commotion in another room. She walked into the room where all the noise was coming from to see Seth standing there, slightly resembling a madman. A sweaty madman with a black eye.

"Summer!" he exclaimed. "I have to talk to you."

Everyone looked at the two of them, curiosity filling their eyes. This was just a little embarrassing. She could tell they were all clinging to the possibility of gossip. So far she had managed to keep all of Newport out of her problems and she was not about to have them start to know everything.

Seth came over to her and she could tell that he was about to blurt out everything he wanted to say. He was impatient in that way. She grabbed his arm before he could say anything.

"We're just going to go home now. Happy New Year everyone!" Summer said, dragging Seth out of the house with such force that was surprising to the people at the party considering how petite and pregnant she was.

They got outside and went over to Summer's car. She still hadn't let go of his arm and realized that this was the most contact that she had had with him in the past month. At this thought, she quickly dropped his arm.

For a moment they just stood in front of the car, neither one moving. Summer finally decided to do something because she couldn't stand just standing outside for much longer. She wanted to go home, but of course she had placed Seth right in front of the door.

"I'm going to go now. So maybe, you could you know move from the car door so I can just go home."

"No, Summer, I wasn't kidding about what I said in there. We need to talk."

"Thanks for declaring that in front of half of Newport, by the way. I really wanted to be gossiped about."

"There will be something new and more interesting already happening at that party. I heard something scandalous about Trish Waters at the office yesterday." He stopped himself before he could go any farther. This was not what he wanted to talk about, he had to stop himself from getting sidetracked. "But I don't want to talk about Trish Waters and her supposed illegitimate children by her lover in Mexico."

Summer just shook her head. "I'm tired, can we just go home and talk in the morning? I'll see you at home." She looked around suddenly, searching for his car. "Wait...where is your car."

"In a parking lot."

"Why is it in a parking lot?"

"Because there was an insane amount of traffic and I needed to get to you to talk to you."

"Then how did you get here if you didn't have a car?"

"I ran here, hence the sweatiness that is really starting to bother me. But again not the point."

"You ran here?" Summer questioned and Seth nodded his head in response. "Like as in ran here, the athletic thing that people do?"

"What other running would I be talking about?"

"You seriously ran here? From wherever your car was?"

"Well actually, I ran for about ten minutes and then I got a really bad leg cramp, probably on account of the fact that I have never run like that before in my life. So then I started walking and soon realized that the whole abandoning my car was probably one of the stupidest things I have ever done in my life. I don't think I was thinking clearly on account of the hours I had spent driving in a traffic jam and the whole guy punching me thing probably didn't help my brain any."

That was when Summer remembered the black eye that she had noticed earlier. "You got punched? Is that why you have a black eye?"

"Yes. I was stuck in the longest freakin traffic jam of my life tonight the one time when I could be in a traffic jam and I upset a very large man. He is the reason for this."

Summer took a minute to process this. Seth ran. Seth had a black eye. And it seemed he did this all to come to the party. To see her.

"So you did this all because you had to talk to me."

"Yes. Can I please start doing just that?"

Summer nodded her head. She was curious. This was the most the two had talked in a while and she was surprised to see that it wasn't them fighting.

She also wanted to talk to him. She had full intentions of giving him the ultimatum of deciding between her and Olivia. Maybe the reason he wanted to talk was because of this. He was going to choose her.

Before Summer let herself get excited over this idea, she realized he also could be telling her he was going to leave her for Olivia. Well, that certainly wasn't going to be a pleasant talk if that was the way it was going to be going. She had full intentions of giving him another black eye if he was going to do just that.

"Let's get in the car. Its chilly out here."

Summer followed this idea, finally giving up on getting in the drivers side of the car considering Seth had already gotten in. As she walked over to the other side of the car, she realized that maybe he wanted to get in the car not because he was cold but because he was about to cause her extreme heartache and pain and didn't want to do it outside in public.

"Summer I realized something tonight. Something that is really important." Oh great. This was when he was going to tell her that he was divorcing her. This was a great way to start the new year. "I realized that I have probably been the worst husband to you ever. And that I've basically been acting like a horrible person all around."

Summer didn't reply, mostly because she was getting over the shock of him not saying he was sending her divorce papers. She wanted him to go on, she needed to hear more of what he had to say.

"I really can't give you a good explanation to justify my actions for the past few months, mainly because there is isn't one and also because there really should be no excuse for why I basically didn't act like a husband to you. I could have come up with a really crappy excuse, because we both know that I'm good with the lies, but I don't want to hurt you anymore and that would just hurt you. I'm going to give you the reason that I am an ass, a huge huge one.

"I want to make things right. Before we even start to talk about that, I need to let you know some things, one thing in particular. That would be that I have not been cheating on you with Olivia. It was not like that again. I don't think I can explain why I was acting the way I had been with her, because I really don't have an answer. I know that's pretty lame and probably unsatisfying but I can't think of one. Maybe it was because I was scared." Seth paused in his speech, realizing that this was the first time this thought had really come up to him.

"Scared?" Summer was finally able to find her voice against. "Seriously Cohen, what would you have to be scared about? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard and I've heard quite a few ridiculous things from you."

Seth thought about what he said before he continued again. "Well, I think that it might have been because I thought that you were pulling away from me. The fact that I forgot our anniversary and then the whole late working thing, I didn't really think that those things were working in my favor."

"And so you decided to become bestest buddies with Olivia and make me think that you're cheating on me? How does that even make any sense at all?"

"I didn't say that it made sense what I did. I don't think that I was thinking clearly at all lately, in case you haven't realized. But I want to make things right now. We have to make things right. And I totally understand that you might need time to think about this because I really would need time if I were you. Considering how I've been acting towards you lately." Summer sat in deep thought for a minute. She had taken every single thing that he had just said and was now processing it all. Before she said anything about the future of their relationship, she needed to make sure one thing was certain.

"What about Olivia? Is she still going to be in your life or is she really going to be gone this time?"

"She's really gone," Seth replied without hesitation. "I'm sorry that I ever continued being friends with her again. Can I plead temporary insanity?"

"Temporary stupidity is more like it."

"Whatever you want to call it, she's gone. I won't ever speak to her again."

This was all that Summer wanted to know. Sure, they had a lot to talk about, a lot that couldn't be fixed in a fifteen minute time span. This reassurance that Olivia was gone from their lives made her know that things were going to start going back the way they once were. She knew that Seth meant it this time, that he wanted to make things right. And this was what mattered most to her.

She leaned over and kissed Seth gently. She pulled away from him and smiled, receiving a smile in return.

"We can talk more about everything later," she said. "But I want to make things right again. Just right now, can we pretend that everything is all right and deal with everything tomorrow?"

"Of course we can," Seth said, unable to keep his happy smile off of his face.

"Well, there's one thing that we need to deal with tonight," Summer said as an afterthought.

Seth's smile left his face momentarily. This couldn't exactly be a good thing. "What's that?"

"You need to shower. Like, immediately, because you're making my car smell horrible."

Seth allowed the smile to return to his face as he started driving, bringing them home.

* * *

After Seth and Summer had left the party after his abrupt entrance, most had lost interest. It was probably because someone spilled the fact that Trish Waters children weren't exactly her husbands. Olivia didn't exactly have an interest Trish Waters, she was more interested in what was going between Seth and Summer.

She exited the house, keeping a safe enough distance where she could see them. She wasn't close enough to hear, but she could still get the majority of what was going on by their actions.

When they first were outside, she noted that Summer didn't look too pleased and Olivia couldn't deny that this made her just more than slightly happy. She had been wishing for the downfall of the couple since she had first arrived.

So it hadn't exactly been in her plans since she first arrived in Newport Beach. All she had wanted to do was get away from her ex. She definitely got a bonus when she realized she was living next to Seth Cohen, the one guy she had ever really had feelings for. Of course though, he was still with that annoying girl and they had a kid and another one coming. She hated that, wishing that she was the one he was married to.

She had watched-and assisted slightly-the faltering relationship. She knew soon enough that the two would break up, possibly even tonight, and that Seth would be looking for someone new. He didn't need to look far.

She took a glance at them again, realizing that they had moved inside the car. She wished that she was able to read lips, as she wanted to know how he was going to break up with Summer.

These thoughts all left her mind when she saw Summer give Seth a kiss, one that was definitely not a goodbye kiss. She saw the smile on his face, the smile on hers and realized that she had been wrong.

They weren't breaking up. No, they were going back to the way they were before. Just like they had been the first time before she had come between them. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to be breaking her heart.

She watched as the two laughed, then pulled away from the parking spot. Olivia fumed as she watched them drive away, already happy. This was not supposed to happen. Sure, she had never officially got the words from Seth that he was going to leave Summer and come to her, but she had gotten a vibe. Kind of. In a way. So she wasn't sure that he was going to leave Summer or anything but she had wished it. She wanted that relationship to fall apart.

She had the one thing that could damage it permanently. The one thing that would have Seth coming to her and have Summer pushing him away. The one thing that she had been keeping hidden for nearly 6 years.

She smiled to herself as she realized she was soon enough going to share this secret with everyone.

* * *

Seth shook the towel once more on his wet hair before dropping it and leaving the bathroom. At that moment, he was happier than he had been in awhile and not only because he no longer smelled of disgusting sweat. He and Summer were on the road to being back to normal or as normal as the two of them could get.

He walked into their bedroom, where he had left Summer and Emma together. It was still a while until midnight and they had decided to celebrate as a family. Before he had gotten in the shower, the two had been snuggled up in the large bed, watching one of those ridiculous New Year's Eve shows.

Instead of seeing the two wide awake, he saw both of them sound asleep in the bed. He laughed quietly at this. Just before he had been arguing with them about staying up and they had both told him they were going to make it. Not even fifteen minutes later, they were both out cold.

He leaned against the doorframe and watched them sleep for a minute. Emma was curled up on his side of the bed, almost literally in a ball. Her long curly hair was sprawled all over his pillows and he was pretty sure she wasn't going to let him sleep in his own bed tonight.

He turned his gaze to Summer who was sleeping peacefully. He watched her for a moment, just focusing on her. He loved her so much and still could not believe that he had even let her doubt that. He couldn't believe that he had been capable of changing that opinion.

He wasn't going to let that happen again. They were going to be a family again, a true family. No more of him missing things for Emma or forgetting things that were important to Summer. He was going to make sure that these things didn't happen anymore.

He looked at Summer once again, this time focusing on her stomach, which contained their baby. He was so excited about this. He wasn't sure if Summer really knew that and he kind of wished that he had told her this tonight. He hoped that she knew, because really they hadn't talk much about the baby so far. He wasn't even sure if she knew that it was a boy or girl. Names hadn't been discussed, they hadn't even really started talking about the nursery or anything like that. God, this was once again reminding him of how much he sucked as a father, despite the fact that the baby wasn't born yet. Everything was so different from when Summer was pregnant with Emma. And it was all on him.

He needed to start fixing that mistake as soon as he could. He knew just the way he could do so.

He quickly found his iPod and the headphones that he wanted, considering the earbuds wouldn't exactly work in this situation. He put the iPod on "There's Never Enough Time" by the Postal Service, then slipped the headphones over Summer's stomach. He was definitely satisfied with this.

He stood for a minute, just watching, and suddenly he looked at Summer's face as her eyes had fluttered open.

"Uh, hi. I thought you were asleep."

"Cohen, I was resting my eyes, waiting for you to come in. What is this?" she asked, gesturing towards her stomach

Seth grinned sheepishly. "You've caught me. I did this all the time with Emma and I decided that it was long past the time I should have started doing this with this baby."

"I know that you did this all the time with Emma. I was never really sleeping. I always just thought it was cute, plus the fact that a lot of the times she would start kicking and I wouldn't stay asleep even if I was."

"You've always known."

"It was just so cute. I couldn't help it," Summer smiled. "I actually kind of missed you doing this for the baby." She moved over slightly, closer towards Emma, and gestured to Seth. "Sit down."

Seth did just that. Summer yawned then rested her head on his shoulder. He was definitely happier than he had been in a long time and hoped that it could stay like that as long as possible.


	10. You Picked Me

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it. The lyrics are from You Picked Me by A Fine Frenzy

A/N-Not really much to say except that this is kind of sort of just a filler chapter, but a happy cutsey one. I thought I would do one of those, considering most likely the drama will be back in the next few chapters. Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter and thanks to Meg for editing this chapter.

* * *

_The two of us a perfect fit  
You're all mine, all mine_

Summer smiled to herself as she pulled various items out of the pantry to start making dinner. She was happy, happier than she had been in a long time.

It had been a month and a half since she and Seth had started to work things out. They were on their way to being them again, to putting everything behind them. So far everything had been great.

They were even better because Olivia was gone.

Well, she wasn't exactly gone. She was still living with her twin sons next door with Dylan, though Seth had officially said goodbye to her. He had told her stop calling, to stop coming over, to stop interfering with their lives. That had made Summer's day, no her whole year.

Now that Seth had entered her mind, she wondered where he was. He had called her three hours ago, saying he was going to get Emma from school and then take her to give her a present for Valentine's day. He had picked Emma up at three, and she had been surprised that this present was taking two hours for them to get. She also didn't understand why he didn't just wait until tomorrow, considering it was tomorrow after all, but whatever. She didn't mind too much as it allowed her to be able to start dinner without Emma wanting to play with her.

She heard the front door open and she knew the two were home. Neither came right into the kitchen though, so she knew something was up. She was about to go out there when Seth came into the kitchen.

"Hello Summer," he greeted her with a quick kiss.

Summer eyed him suspiciously. "You did something that I'm not going to like. I just know it."

Seth gave a nervous laugh. "Never. I would never do anything that would possibly get you angry."

She just gave him a look. "Seriously, Cohen, what did you do?"

"Well, I got the present for Emma. And I realized that while Emma already loves the present that I gave her, you might not be so fond of it."

Summer was about to ask what he had gotten Emma when a small dog came running into the room, Emma chasing behind it.

"Em, I told you to stay in the other room with her until I talked to Mommy," Seth said.

Emma looked up at him, her eyes wide. "Sorry Daddy, she ran away from me!"

"You got her a dog?" Summer questioned.

"Well, yes. There are good points to this though. See, the dog is a dog, not a puppy. She's a year old and she's already house trained and everything. She's a Bichon Frise."

Summer sighed. Leave it to her husband to get a dog that was a high-maintenance dog. She looked down at the white puffball sitting down now, Emma next to her. She was a cute dog, she would admit that. She didn't really think that they had time for a dog right now, plus Emma was only four. Sometimes, she wondered what Seth was thinking when he made these decisions.

"Look, the dog is already house trained, so we don't have to do that. She's a really good dog and she loves kids, so see perfect right? She's a cute dog isn't she?" Seth scooped the dog up in his arms so that Summer could see her at eye level.

"But a dog Seth? Do you realize that we're going to have a baby soon, plus taking care of Emma? And now adding a dog on top of that?"

"I can take care of Lilly!" Emma exclaimed. "We gots her toys an' food an' stuff."

Seth showed Summer the dog again. Summer knew she was slowly losing this battle.

"Please Mommy! I've wanted a dog forever"Emma looked at her mother, eyes wide, a hopeful smile on her face.

Seth gave her the same smile, plus making sure she was able to see Lilly well. She sighed.

"Fine, we can keep her. She better be fully house trained and not pee in the house or she goes," Summer said this, though it was most likely an empty threat. She knew that Emma was officially attached to the dog and getting rid of her would break her heart, and Summer would never do that.

"Thanks Mommy!" Emma tugged on her father, wanting him to put the dog down. He did so, and the dog ran off, Emma following after her. They could hear her giggling as she happily started to play with her new pet.

"Sum, are you sure you're okay with this? I didn't mean to just spring this on you, but I had this idea and I knew Emma would love it. Plus, when we're busy with the new baby, at least it will give her some entertainment when we're too busy"

"I think it's a good idea, I suppose. It'll take some getting used to, having a dog, but I suppose it will be good. She seems like a good enough dog. Except I'm not going to be the one who gets up with her during the night to let her out or anything. That's all you."

"All right. I was planning on doing that anyways." Seth smiled at her, then walked over closer to her and kissed her again. He pulled away, still close to her. "So how are you today?"

"Tired and not feeling all that great," Summer replied honestly.

Seth gave her a concerned look. "Why don't you go lie down for a while then? I'll finish dinner for you."

Summer just laughed at him. "After what you did to my clothes yesterday, no. I don't trust you to go near anything that involves housework for a while."

"But I can cook. I've done it before," Seth protested.

"I know you can cook. I'll be fine. I promise," Summer said.

"Are you sure?" Seth asked.

"Yes, Seth. Go and play with the new dog."

Seth gave her one last quick kiss before leaving the room. Summer smiled to herself. She was definitely happier than she had been in a long time.

* * *

"Seth. Seth," Summer shook her husband awake, gently first then letting her shakes become more urgent and rougher.

"What?" Seth groaned. He rolled over and looked at the clock. "It's 3 o'clock in the morning."

"I know. I think I'm in labor." Summer paused. "Scratch that, I am in labor."

That made Seth sit up. "What? Are you sure?"

"Uh, yea."

"But you're not due for another two weeks."

"Do you really think this baby cares about that? It is your child after all."

Seth stood up, immediately thinking of things that needed to be done. "What are we going to do with Emma? We can't bring her over to Ryan and Taylor's this late."

"Just figure something out Seth and soon," Summer said urgently.

Seth stood in thought for a few minutes. "Uh...I have an idea but I'm not sure if you're going to like it."

"I really don't care. If your idea is to bring her over next door, then sure great, do that. I don't really care right now."

"Okay," Seth said. "I'll go wake her up, then we can go out to the car and I'll bring her next door."

He sprinted from the room into his daughter's room, where she was sleeping soundly, Lilly curled up in a small dog bed next to hers.

"Emma, wake up."

Emma opened her eyes, confused. "Daddy? It's still dark?"

"Yea, I know but your Mommy is going to go have the baby. We're going to bring you next door."

"Okay," Emma said, still half asleep. Seth lifted her up in his arms. He looked down at the dog and knew he couldn't leave her alone. Quickly he managed to get Lilly on the leash, something he was surprised he could do with a four year old in his arms, but he managed.

They headed out of the room and Summer was standing outside of their bedroom, ready to go to the hospital. Emma's eyes fluttered open at the sight of her mom.

"Mommy?" she looked a little afraid and confused at what was all going on around her.

"Hi baby," Summer tried to make everything as normal as possible and tried to not let her daughter see that she was in pain. "It's fine, everything's going to be fine. Don't worry."

Emma nodded her head against her father's shoulder, then stuck her thumb in her mouth. It was a habit that she had mostly outgrown except for when she was nervous or afraid. Summer removed it from her mouth, then kissed her gently on her head, trying to show her that everything was going to be okay.

"I'm just going to bring her downstairs really quick, then I'll come and help you downstairs," Seth stated.

He went down the stairs, watchful of the small dog, then placed Emma on the couch. He went back upstairs to Summer and held her hand, helping her down the stairs. He picked Emma up and Lilly's leash, holding onto Summer still with his free hand.

"I'll be as quick as I can,' Seth stated as he helped Summer into the car. She didn't reply but he knew she heard him.

He walked across to the house and started knocking on the door and ringing the bell, hoping it would get someone's attention. He, for once, was hoping it was going to be Dylan, Olivia being the last person he wanted to see.

Of course, Olivia was the one to open the door. She was still half asleep, pulling a robe on. When she saw Seth, she gave a smile, until she saw Emma in his arms.

"Listen, I know I said that I didn't want anything to do with you, but Summer's in labor and I can't bring Emma over to my brother's house, it'd take too long and its too late. Do you think you could please just take her and the dog?"

Olivia didn't hesitate. "Yea, sure."

"Thank you," Seth said as he allowed her to take Emma in her arms, then gave her the leash for the dog. He gave Emma a quick kiss before running back to the car.

He got inside, where Summer was leaning her head against the headrest, eyes closed. She opened them when she heard Seth get inside.

"Did she take Emma?"

"Yea, she did."

"The woman can actually do something nice that doesn't have some sort of secret agenda that involves you," Summer said. "Or at least I hope that's true."

"She's doing us a favor. It's fine. Emma will most likely sleep the whole time she's there and then Ryan and Taylor can pick her up. It's not like she has to do much," Seth said, letting one hand leave the steering wheel, grabbing Summer's hand with it. "Are you excited?"

"Excited to have to go through this pain again? Uh, not so much," Summer replied.

"No, I meant to have another baby."

"Yea, I am pretty excited about this."

"Me too," Seth said, rubbing his thumb gently over her hand. He was excited and happy. Everything was right between them now, so that just lead to even more excitement and happiness. He couldn't wait to be a dad to another kid. He was hoping it was a boy, since he was already outnumbered, especially with the new dog being a girl. Even if it was another girl, he would be happy.

* * *

Six hours, a near broken hand, and uses of words that should never be used near any child later, Summer was holding her daughter in her arms.

When Seth first laid eyes on his new daughter, he knew that he was in love instantly. She was just as beautiful as Emma had been. So he didn't get a son, that didn't matter to him anymore. He loved his girls, now numbered at three.

Summer had wanted a boy too, but she was just as happy with her new daughter. Secretly more happy because now maybe this one would actually enjoy shopping instead of throwing fits like Emma.

She looked down at the baby, a smiling lighting up her face. She was perfect.

There was a soft knock at their door, surprising them both. They hadn't been expecting anyone for several more hours. They had made the phone calls to Ryan and Taylor and Sandy and Kirsten, but didn't think anyone would come yet.

Emma came bouncing into the room after the knock, smiling brightly. "Can I see her?"

Ryan and Taylor followed her, smiles on their faces. Taylor spoke first.

"I hope you don't mind that we brought her. We picked her up two hours ago and she wanted to see her new baby sister so badly."

"No, that's fine. We were hoping that you guys would bring her by," Summer replied. Emma was now at the bed, looking at her baby sister.

Seth pulled his older daughter onto his lap. "That's your baby sister Em."

"She's tiny." Emma wrinkled her nose.

"That's how tiny you were when you were born."

"Really?" Emma looked at him like she didn't believe him.

"Uh-huh."

Emma turned her focus back on her sister. She seemed to be taking the new addition well so far, much to Seth and Summer's delight.

Taylor cleared her throat uncomfortably as she had just noticed something, or rather someone at the door. "Uh, guys. There's someone else here to see you."

They looked up at the door, surprised to see Olivia at standing at the door. She entered the room.

"Hey. I just wanted to say congratulations," she said.

"Um, thanks," Summer replied, feeling awkward and uncomfortable. She didn't know why she should be feeling like that. It should be the other way around.

"I just came to finally apologize. I'm sorry. I don't know why I tried to come between you two, its obvious that you two are meant to be." Olivia looked down at her feet.

Summer had to agree, they were. She knew that before Olivia had come in here proclaiming that she finally realized it and she would always know it. The two were a perfect fit.

"So I'm just going to go now. Congratulations once again,"she turned and left, but not without Seth stopping her first.

"Olivia, wait," he said as she was halfway out the door.

She stopped, turning to look at him.

"Thanks," he said. Then he turned his attention back to his wife and kids.

Summer didn't do the same. She looked at Olivia, who seemed to think that no one was watching her. She gave a glare and looked at Seth, a longing look in her eyes. Summer knew that what she said was a line of crap. She knew that she was just trying to play Seth, to get him to think that she was nice. Summer was not going to fall for any of that. She knew that Olivia had some sort of secret agenda.

She pulled herself away from that thought, not wanting to worry or care about Olivia. She had a new baby and a great family. She should be worrying about them, not some girl who obviously hated her.

"So what did you guys name her? Is it something all romantic and cute since she was born on Valentine's Day?" Taylor questioned.

"Yes. We named her Love," Seth rolled his eyes. "No, her name is completely normal. We named her Madeleine Leigh."

"Aww, that's so cute!" Taylor squealed. "Madeleine Leigh Cohen."

Summer looked at Seth, giving him a grin, who then leaned over giving her a kiss. She sighed, happy. She let all thoughts that were worrying her out of her mind, and just concentrated on her family, Seth, Emma, and Madeleine.


	11. Tiny Vessels

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize does not belong to me. The song lyrics are from Tiny Vessels by Death Cab for Cutie.

A/N-Sorry for not updating this story in a while. I've been a little…stuck on what exactly to do. I think it might be because I don't think people like this story as much as they once did and I'm not really too into it anymore. I will finish this story though, it just might take a while. So anyways, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and thanks to Meg for editing.

* * *

_So when you ask "Is something wrong?"  
I think "You're damn right there is."_

Seth sat behind his desk in his small office, doodling on some paper. He should have been working on whatever had been placed on his desk an hour ago but he didn't feel like it. He was working on something that he felt was way more important and meant more than the work he had. He was pretty sure that his boss wasn't going to feel the same way but he would deal with it all later.

There was a knock on his door, taking him out of the drawing trance that he was in. He hurriedly shoved some papers over it and made it look like he was actually doing something that related to work. "Come in."

The door opened slowly and instead of revealing his boss or one of his fellow employees, Olivia was standing there. This was not what he had expected at all.

It had been two months since he had seen Olivia and he really didn't mind that at all. The last time he had seen her was the day that Madeleine was born. She had basically disappeared after that day, much to Summer's and his own excitement and happiness. Everything had been so much calmer and problems were disappearing, were being able to be pushed away to the back of their minds. It was a nice thing.

"Hi Seth," she greeted, walking inside.

"Um, Olivia. Hi." Seth shifted awkwardly in his seat. "What are you doing here?"

"I've had some stuff on my mind lately and I wanted to come talk to you about it."

"Okay, just make it brief. I have some work I have to get done."

Olivia took a seat in the chair opposite his desk and this was one of the times when Seth realized how small the office was. Even though there was a desk separating the two, he still couldn't help but feel as if there was not enough space between them. Perhaps it was the fact that she was leaning on his desk. He was pretty sure that contributed to that. He leaned back farther away just to get some more distance between them.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Seth asked. He was leaning pretty far back on his chair, so far he was afraid it might break.

"Do you remember that time in college? Right after Summer broke up with you. You slept with me and then told me that you loved me?"

"Olivia, is that all you've been thinking about for two whole months? Because I would just like to say that I was piss ass drunk that night and I don't even remember saying that, so you could very well be lying to me about that. Even if I did say that, I love Summer more than anything in the world and I mostly likely, in my drunken state, thought that you were her. It meant absolutely nothing."

"But it did. You don't say something like that unless you actually mean it. I thought about this for a while, ever since I went to see you and Summer the day that your daughter was born. I started to think that you were lying to one of us and I don't think that you were lying to me. So that's what I've been thinking about-how you're with the wrong woman at the moment. You should be with me and I think that you know it too."

Seth could not believe her. Okay, so maybe earlier in the year he had paid a lot of attention to Olivia, more than he should have and in the past more than he ever should have. It was over though, even if he didn't know how something that never started could be over. Olivia just didn't really realize that this never did start.

"Olivia, how many times do I have to tell you? There was nothing there and there will never be. Do you think that maybe you could leave now because as I said before, I have a lot of work to do."

"Before I go, I have something I have to tell you. It's important and I'm pretty sure that you're going to want to hear this."

"Fine, go ahead," Seth said with a wave of his hand.

"Phineas and Preston are your kids."

This piece of information ran through Seth's brain about ten times before he officially processed the whole thought. Even then, it didn't make all that much sense. "What?"

"They are. After you came back to California that next day to go back to your stupid girlfriend, I left. I bet you didn't notice though. I went back home to help with my mom who was sick and then I found out that I was pregnant."

"And you somehow just assumed that I'm their father? If I remember correctly, you did have a boyfriend at that time."

"Trust me Seth, they're definitely yours. I can tell everyday when I look at them and when I hear them. They are your kids. I want them to know their father. They deserve to have a dad just like all the other kids. That's why I think that you need to be there for them now. All the time because they definitely need you."

Seth sighed in frustration. This had taken a very interesting turn on him. "Olivia we need to seriously discuss this. Not that I'm doubting you or anything, but we should do a paternity test."

"Trust me Seth there's no way Phineas and Preston are anyone else's but yours. You were the only one I slept with. I can't believe that you would even doubt that fact." She paused in her steps towards the door. "You never told Summer about that night did you?"

Seth winced. He liked to seriously leave that little detail out of his mind as much as he possibly could. It was not one of his finer points, not telling Summer that, but he didn't want to hurt her. "No I never did."

"Well, maybe you should. I'm pretty sure that she's going to want to know about something like this. If you don't tell her, I will."

"Why the hell would you tell her something like that?" Seth stood up starting to get angry. "What I do or do not tell my wife isn't any of your business."

Seth never found out her answer to why as the door to his office opened once again. Once again, it was not his boss, but this time it was his wife and kids.

This day was just turning into a day full of unexpected surprises.

Summer stopped in her tracks when she saw the look on his face. He had forgotten that Summer was going to bring Emma and Madeleine by after she picked Emma from school as all of his coworkers desperately wanted to see Madeleine.

"Summer, it's not-" Seth immediately jumped to defend himself.

"I was coming to tell Seth that I'm leaving. I'm going back east in a week."

Seth was pretty sure that he hadn't seen a smile light up Summer's face that brightly in a while. He almost laughed at how she responded but decided it would be the best for him to hold it in.

"Really? That is the greatest news ever. And I mean that in a totally sincere way."

Olivia smiled at her, though not in a nice way. "I know you mean that. I guess I'll just be seeing you all later."

"Bye," Summer said, not bothering to hide her excitement.

Olivia left the small room, leaving Seth and Summer alone. She watched as his daughter ran to him giving him a hug and Summer gave him a kiss. She watched as he picked his baby daughter up and held her in his arms and she saw the look of pure joy on his face. She felt the jealously rise in her chest as she saw how happy they both were, especially how happy Summer looked. She wanted that more than anything else-and she wanted it with Seth.\

* * *

Seth paced back and forth, trying to clear his head of any other thoughts and trying to make up his mind of what his going to do next. 

He realized that he had to tell Summer about what happened between him and Olivia all those years ago, especially considering he might end up having two more kids.

That was another thought that he couldn't wrap his head around. He hated to say it but he didn't want any other kids. He loved Emma and Madeleine, his two precious daughters. He didn't want these kids, mostly for the reason of they weren't his and Summer's. They were his and Olivia's.

Summer was going to kill him.

He realized that his death was going to be even more painful if he did not tell her himself. If he just let it be-because there was a chance that it was another crazy thing that Olivia was making up-then Olivia might tell her. And that would be really bad.

He made the decision to go upstairs and talk to her. He wasn't going to back down from this and he was pretty certain if he waited to tell her then he would just put it off. That was not what he wanted to do.

He found her in Emma's room, reading a bedtime story to her. He stood and watched as she finished the story, then went in the room.

"Good night Emma," he said, kissing her small cheek.

"'Night Daddy," she said giving him a sleepy smile.

He followed Sumer out of the room, shutting the door softly behind him. Summer smiled at him, then kissed him softly.

"What was that for?" he whispered.

"For you being you."

Seth tried to return her happy smile before following her to their room. It wasn't exactly an easy thing considering he was most likely going to break her heart into a million pieces.

This was turning out to be a fun night.

"Sum there's something-" he started to say but was quickly cut off by Summer kissing him once again. This time it was more fiercely than it had been outside of Emma's door.

Okay, well this was going to be a lot harder to tell her if there was this going on at the moment.

He let it go on for a few minutes before realizing that if he let this continue, most likely the whole thought of what he wanted to talk about would leave. That would not be good. So very reluctantly, he pulled away from Summer.

Her brown eyes stared at him, apparently confused. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just…there's something I need to talk to you about. And it's kind of important."

"Okay," Summer said. She started to walk over to her dresser, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a tank top.

Seth just stood there, unable to think of how exactly he wanted to began this conversation. Was he just supposed to go 'I may have two other kids that aren't yours because I slept with Olivia so many years ago?'

"I thought you said you wanted to talk," Summer said as she started to change her into her sweatpants.

Seth watched her, not saying a thing. He somehow was finding his mind drifting to the fact that Summer was undressing in front of him. He knew that she was doing it to torture him, he was pretty sure she didn't want to do any talking.

As she started to pull off her shirt, he rushed over to her, pulling it back down. "No, we really need to talk and I don't think that I can talk when you're changing. Please just stop."

Summer looked at him, finally realizing that he was going to talk about something serious. "Is something wrong? Like with your parents or something?" She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her.

Seth felt oddly comforted by this, bringing his head down to rest it on her shoulder. He decided that it was best just to blurt it out. "IsleptwithOliviawhenwebrokeupsevenyearsagoandnowshetoldmethatherkidsmightbeummine."

Well that wasn't exactly what he wanted to do or how he wanted to say it but that's how it came out.

Summer pulled away from him, looking him in the eye again. He was pretty sure that she didn't understand him, considering the look of confusion that was reflecting in her eyes.

"What?"

Seth took a deep breath. "Do you remember that time, approximately seven years ago, when you," he cleared his throat, "broke up with me because you thought I was cheating on you? And then when we got back together, I told you that it was nothing more than a few kisses and some feelings?"

Summer narrowed her eyes, taking a step back. He could tell she didn't like where this was headed.

"Well, I lied. During those two weeks we were broken up, I got really really drunk and slept with Olivia."

Silence filled the room. Summer backed away from him, sitting on the bed. He could see the hurt and confusion in her eyes, the amount of questions that she had. He just wished he could end it at that.

"I was never going to tell you because I never thought that it really mattered. It didn't mean anything, I was drunk, I thought she was you. So that's why I never told you. I would still have not told you if-if Olivia hadn't come to my office today to tell me that she thinks Phineas and Preston are my kids. Though according to her, she pretty much knows."

"Get out," she said, her voice low.

"Summer, I think we have to talk or something-" Seth said, taking a step away towards her, but she stopped him.

"I am serious Seth. I do not want to see you at this moment or I swear to God, I will do something I will later regret."

"Summer," he said softly. He wanted her to know so many things, he had so much he wanted to tell her.

"Seth." She looked up at him, her eyes filled with hurt and tears spilling out of them. "Please. Just go."

Seth turned and left the room. He closed the door gently behind him, resting against it when he did so. He could hear her quietly crying in the room and he didn't blame her. He hated himself at that moment, for making that ridiculously idiotic mistake so many years ago. He wished he could take it all back.


	12. Foundations Part I

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the OC. The song lyrics in the beginning belong to the song Foundations by Kate Nash.

A/N-Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and thanks to Meg for editing. 

* * *

_My finger tips are holding onto the cracks in our foundation_

Summer didn't sleep at all. It probably helped that she was up with Madeleine half the time, but she didn't even try to sleep in between that time. She had too many emotions running through her mind at the moment. 

Seth had kids that weren't hers. Kids that belonged to Olivia.

She couldn't believe that he lied to her for all these years about sleeping with Olivia. She knew that she had asked him time and time again if he had slept with her. He had always responded no. And she had always believed him.

Then she remembered something. There had been, one time before, a moment when she had doubted what he had been telling her. 

* * *

_Summer smiled into Seth's bare chest. She was so happy that they were back together. It had been five days since they had gotten back together and the five days had been spent wonderfully. They had hung out with friends during the day, then continued hanging out together behind closed doors at Summer's apartment. It was so nice to just let go of everything and to just be them again. Now that they were engaged-Summer had accepted two days ago-things seemed to be so much better between the two._

_Still, as happy as she was with Seth, there was still something nagging her in the back of her mind. Something that just wouldn't stop bothering her. _

_It was the whole what he had done with Olivia thing that was bothering her. Seth was blowing it off and had just briefly mentioned it to her. He didn't want to talk about it other than that one time that he had mentioned it._

_It wasn't that she didn't want to know. She didn't really. It was more of wanting to know what he had done with her and why he had done what he did. It was bothering her. She wanted to know what had been the deciding factor in him kissing or doing whatever it was that he did with her._

"_Cohen?" _

"_Yea?"_

"_I have a question."_

"_Ask away my little Summer."_

"_What exactly happened between you and Olivia again?"_

_She felt Seth sigh. "We already went over this I thought. When I came back."_

"_I know…I just don't exactly remember." This was a lie. She wanted to see if he said all the same things as he had said that night. _

"_How could you forget Summer?"_

"_Did you kiss her?" Summer asked in a small voice. _

_Seth sighed again. "Yes. I did."_

"_Did you sleep with her?" Summer asked a pain in her chest when she asked him this. _

_There was no response from Seth. He didn't say a word and didn't make any movement._

_Summer felt a wave of nervousness and fright come over her. She didn't know why he wasn't responding. He had said no the other night. What if he had been lying to her? What if he was just telling her no to get her back and now he felt guilty and that he needed to tell her?_

"_Cohen?" she said softly._

"_Mhmm?"_

"_You didn't reply to me."_

"_I'm sorry Sum, I didn't hear you."_

"_I asked if you slept with Olivia?"_

"_No, I told you that the other night. I would never ever sleep with someone who isn't you," Seth replied after another moment's hesitation. "Speaking of sleep, I think it's time that we get some. We have to get up to go to my parents' house early tomorrow morning."_

_Summer didn't respond, just cuddled closer to Seth. She was going to take his answer. She was going to pretend that he never hesitated before answering her. She was just going to trust that he was telling her the truth._

Summer couldn't believe how naïve she had been at that time. She should have inquired more into it. This could have been avoided if she would have persisted.

It wasn't really her fault though. Seth had lied to her. He never told her the truth. The fact that her life was currently falling apart was not just her own fault. It was Seth who slept with Olivia. It was Seth who made the decision to not tell her ever.

It was Seth who had made the decision to let her heart break. 

* * *

Seth wasn't sure if he wanted to go into his house. He was afraid. He couldn't believe that he was afraid of his wife. God, he hoped she still wanted to be his wife. 

He needed to get into his house. He needed clothes, as he had decided that it would be a good idea to go into work. Plus, if Summer still wanted him to stay away, then he would need something to bring to Ryan's house.

That's where Seth had gone last night after he left his house. He didn't know where else he could have gone to stay. Thankfully, Ryan had been still awake, working on something for work. Seth, for once, had decided to not talk about it. He didn't want to discuss how badly he had screwed up. He didn't want to relive it.

Finally, he decided that he just needed to go inside. He opened the door quietly and headed up to the bedroom. He was hoping that Summer would still have been asleep, but he had no such luck with that one.

He hated himself even more when he saw how she looked. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, strands falling down on her face. He could see the tiredness and the redness from crying in her eyes and he hated the fact that he had done this to her.

"Summer," he said. He had so much to say to her. So much but he didn't know how to say it. He wanted to tell her that it meant nothing. He wanted to tell her he was drunk and that he had thought it was her. Most of all he wanted to tell her that he was so sorry, so very sorry. 

She looked at him sharply. "What do you want?"

"I…I have to go to work. I came to get clean clothes. And also to know if I can come home tonight. So we can talk."

Summer shook her head slightly. "I don't think I'm ready to be that close to you Seth. I just…no. Not now."

Seth hung his head, feeling disgusted with himself. He had done this to them. He was responsible for the destruction they were facing.

A crying noise was heard through the baby monitor. Summer moved wordlessly out of the room towards the nursery, leaving Seth in the room alone. It was like she had planned for Madeleine to cry just so she could get out of the room. 

Seth threw some of his clothes into a bag, not caring what he put inside of it. He had a feeling that Summer just wanted him to leave as fast as possible. He didn't blame her at all.

He walked into the bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush. He glanced at himself in the mirror and realized he looked like hell. He was reflecting the no sleeping and the night spent on Ryan and Taylor's couch. He hadn't shaved in several days and his hair was even crazier looking than normal.

He sighed, then walked out of the bathroom. He didn't want to look at himself in the mirror anymore. It was too much to handle. 

He finished packing his bag and left the bedroom. He didn't expect Emma to be standing outside the door waiting for him to come out.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, throwing herself at him.

"Hi Em," he said, dropping his bag and picking her up.

She looked at his bags. "Are you going somewhere?"

Seth looked and caught Summer's eye, who had just walked out of the nursery, Madeleine in her arms. She shook her head, signaling that she hadn't told Emma any excuse as to why her daddy wasn't going to be staying at home with them for a few days.

"I have a business trip to go on," Seth replied. 

"When are you coming home?"

"I don't know."

Emma stuck her bottom lip out at her father, giving him a pouty face, the one she had learned and perfected with the help of Summer. "Can I come with you?"

"No, I'm sorry Emma."

"But I want to go! I'll miss you Daddy!"

"Emma, sweetie, come on, you have to get ready for school now," Summer said.

"I don't want to go to school! I want to go with Daddy," Emma wailed. 

"It's fine Emma. I'll be back."

"But I miss you!"

"I'll bring you a present okay?"

Emma sniffled slightly, then nodded her head. He kissed her then placed her back on the ground. She ran into her bedroom to get ready for school. 

Seth walked to Summer. "Don't bring her to Ryan and Taylor's, that's where I'll be staying."

Summer nodded her head. Seth looked down at Madeleine and had to look away. His innocent baby girl had to be born in a horrible time. He hated himself for doing this to her, despite the fact that she knew nothing of what was going on.

"Okay, I guess I'll go now." He turned and started to walk away. Before he went down the stairs, he turned back and looked at Summer. "Summer?"

She looked back at him and he could tell that she was already crying. "What?" Her voice was sharp but he could tell it was just to mask the pain that she was trying to hide.

"I love you." He didn't wait for her to say anything, he just went down the stairs and didn't look back. 

* * *

Seth was woken up by the unfortunate feeling of someone tiny jumping on him. He knew right away that it was Josh, as he had been woken up the same way every single morning for the past two days. It was not pleasant.

"Uncle Seth!" he exclaimed. "Wakey wakey!"

"I'm up buddy," Seth groaned pulling his nephew off of him. "Let's go see your mommy now."

He carried Josh into the kitchen where Taylor was making waffles for them. Seth sat down at the table, pouring himself some coffee. 

"Good morning Seth."

"Morning Taylor," Seth replied.

Taylor sighed when she heard the sadness in his voice. He had been at their house for three days and he wasn't even acting very Seth like. He wasn't talking, he barely cracked a joke or a smile. She could tell that he missed Summer, Emma, and Madeleine more than anything.

She knew that Summer was feeling the same way. She had talked to her many times on the phone and after the first initial day, in which the conversations had been about how much she had hated Seth, they had changed to how much she missed him. Emma missed him a lot too. She would go to the window and wait for him to come home from his 'trip'. He had never been away from them for more than a day, so this was confusing to her and Summer hated seeing her daughter like that. 

Taylor hated seeing this relationship fall apart. It was Seth and Summer. They were meant to be together. It was basically a mandatory thing for them to be together or else life wasn't the same.

Taylor knew that she wasn't really supposed to meddle and that Ryan hated when she did. This time, it was basically a necessity. Plus she was pretty sure Ryan would approve, considering she was going to need his help. 

* * *

"Taylor, I don't want to go shopping. I'm not in the mood," Summer said not moving from her spot on the couch.

"Well, then what do you want to do?"

"Sit. Wallow. Hate Seth. Hate myself for hating Seth. Hate Seth for making me hate myself for hating him. Wish that this had never happened."

"Oh, Sum." Taylor looked at her best friend sadly.

"So can we just sit here?"

"And talk?"

Summer nodded. Taylor gave her the go ahead to start talking and settled back, making sure to note every important part of the conversation to relay back to Ryan to relay back to Seth.

"I know I should be super pissed at Seth and I am, don't get me wrong. It's just…I miss him. We've been doing so well for four months and I want that back. I hate that I feel so dependent on him, but he's my husband. All of the other stuff that we've been through this year doesn't even matter anymore. The anniversary thing, I don't care. He never cheated with Olivia again this year at least. He was just being a stupid guy and not realizing how uncomfortable she was making me. I can't blame him for that. But this? This is harder to forgive."

"I know that it is Summer. Trust me. Seth is doing horribly. He's called into work for the past two days and has barely moved from my couch." She paused. "And he hasn't showered and he's starting to smell a little."

Summer sighed. "That doesn't make me feel any better."

"What would make you feel better?"

"Honestly? If I knew if Phineas and Preston are his kids or not. I think before I can really move forward I need to know that. Has he found that out yet?"

"No. As I said, he hasn't moved from my couch."

"Is he going to find out?"

Taylor shrugged. "I don't know. He isn't really talking to us. He talks to Josh and Molly. But that doesn't really count."

"Oh." Summer sighed. "Can we talk about something else? This isn't really making me feel any better."

Taylor nodded her head. She had enough information anyways to tell Ryan that would hopefully help. 

* * *

"Seth come on get up." Ryan walked into his living room, standing in front of the couch that Seth was lying on. He turned off the television before looking at Seth.

"Come on Ryan! They're about to announce the number 1 video of the week!"

"You can watch it again later," Ryan said. "Get up. Shower. Please, for my family's sake. We can't handle your stink."

Seth sighed. "Please Ryan can I just go back to my show?"

"No. Taylor wants to wash the couch. So that means you need to shower and then me and you are going somewhere."

"Really? Do I have to?"

"Do you want to endure Taylor's wrath?"

"Not particularly. I'll go shower."

"Good idea."

Seth slowly got off the couch and walked to the bathroom. Ryan looked back at his couch. He wasn't sure if he should wash it or burn it at this point. 

* * *

Seth sat down at the counter, looking around at everyone. The restaurant that Ryan had picked was empty. He wondered if this was his purpose. Maybe he had decided that Summer had more justification in everything and Ryan decided that he was going to kill him today. That would not be good. At least he would die clean.

"Why am I here?" Seth questioned after placing the whole murder plot out of his head. "It certainly wasn't to see the great service because it sucks here."

"I'm here to talk to you about Olivia. And something that Summer told Taylor. Something that she wants to know before she can go any farther along with whatever is happening between you two."

"What is it?" Seth perked up a little bit at this statement.

"She wants you to get a paternity test."

"I was intending on doing that."

"Then why haven't you Seth? Olivia is leaving in two days. If you want to know, you're going to have to find out soon."

"I know," Seth sighed. "It's just…I don't know if I want to know."

"You don't want to know if you have two extra kids?"

"No I do want to know. But what if they're mine? What do I do then? This may seem horrible but I don't want any other kids. Emma and Madeleine are my world, the two most important things in my life next to Summer. I don't want to change anything about that. I don't want to all of a sudden have two more to have to worry about. I don't want Emma and Madeleine to have to deal with them. I only wanted kids with Summer. She's the only person who I ever wanted to be with and I screwed that up big time now."

"Seth. The only way that you're going to fix that is if you get this test taken. It's almost like you're being selfish not finding out, to Olivia and those kids."

"You're right. I should go and talk to her about it. Right now."

"I'll drive," Ryan said. 

* * *

Seth walked up to the house next door to his own, trying to be stealth about it. He didn't want Summer to see him going to Olivia's house. He knew that she was home already from getting Emma so there was a chance that he could be seen. He also knew that Emma could see him and that would ruin everything.

He knocked on the door, waiting impatiently for someone to open it. Olivia did, a large smile lighting up her face.

"I knew that you would come. I noticed that you haven't been at home. Did Summer kick you out?" 

"That's not what I came here to discuss. We need to get a paternity test taken immediately. I called in some favors and I got an appointment in 20 minutes."

Olivia's face fell slightly. "What are you going to do if it's positive?"

"I'll pay you child support and you'll get out of my life. If I'ts not positive, then you'll just get out of my life. Either way I want you to get out of my life and stop fucking up my relationship with Summer."

"Give me the address," Olivia said.

Seth was smarter than this. He was pretty sure that she would take off and then somehow find a way to get child support out of him even if they weren't his kids and even if the way she did this was illegal. "It'll be easier if you just come with me. Get Phineas and Preston."

She did this, slamming the door in his face. He walked back to the car and tried to avoid being seen from his house. It was before he realized that this wasn't as easy as the first time as he saw Summer looking at him. She didn't tear her eyes away, not after he got in the car, not after Olivia and her kids joined him and he was pretty sure that she didn't take her eyes off of that spot. 

* * *

Summer heard the doorbell ring. She didn't want to answer it. She did anyways.

Seth was standing there, holding a piece of paper in his hands. He looked nervous and a little frightened. She wondered if it was because she was frightened of their relationship and where it was heading at this moment. She certainly was. 

"Hi Summer." He stepped inside the house, standing opposite of her. 

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you want?"

"First, is Emma still up?"

"I put her to bed a half hour ago."

"Okay, good." Seth took a deep breath before beginning. "So, I know that these past 4 days have been horrible for you. They've been equally as horrible for me. I've missed you so much, it's been so hard. I miss Emma and Madeleine like crazy. I just want my girls back. I want us to put everything behind us. I realize that its probably going to be a million times harder this time, given the circumstances, especially given the circumstances."

"Is there a point to this ramble of yours?" Summer asked.

"Yes. There is." Seth held the piece of paper that he was holding. "I have the results to the paternity test."


	13. Foundations Part II

Disclaimer: Don't own anything, song lyrics are from the song Foundations by Kate Nash.

_I know I should forget, but I can't_

"I have the results to the paternity test."

Summer felt herself stop breathing for a moment. He had the paternity test results. On that piece of paper it told them if he had two more kids or if Emma and Madeleine were his only two.

Did she really want to know? What was she going to do if it was positive? She didn't really know what she could do.

And still, what if they weren't his kids? How could she go on with her life with him, knowing that he was capable of doing something like this to her? If he did it once before, he could most certainly do it again. Despite the fact that they had been broken up at the time it had happened, it didn't matter. Broken up or not, she would live in constant fear of it happening to her again. And what if he had slept with someone other than Olivia? What if he had a whole multitude of women claiming that he fathered their children?

"Sum? The results are here in my hands. Don't you want to know?" Seth asked.

Summer shook her head, surprising herself. "No. I don't."

"You don't? B-but Ryan told me that's what you wanted! You wanted to know the results."

"So that's the only reason you wanted to know? So you could satisfy what I wanted? Well, Cohen, it's not what I want. I want you to go back in time and fix everything that happened. Okay? When you have the ability to do that, come talk to me," Summer said. She turned around and walked away from him.

Seth sighed, leaning against the door. This was not how he thought that this was going to go.

* * *

Seth opened up Ryan's front door, greeted by Ryan and Taylor's confused faces.

"Seth? What are you doing here?" Taylor questioned. "I thought you went to talk to Summer."

"I did. She hates me."

"Well can you really blame her?" Taylor said, receiving a look from Ryan. "It's true."

"No, Taylor you're right. As much as you guys tried to help me and her, it's no use. She's doesn't want me anymore. She didn't want to know the results."

"What? She told me that's what she wanted to know before she could even look at your relationship."

"Now she wants me to go back in time and fix everything that happened. And since I am still having difficulties mastering time travel, there's no hope for me," Seth stated, heading towards the couch. "If you'll excuse me, I believe that there are some shows on VH1 that I need to catch up on."

Ryan caught Seth before he fell back onto the couch. "No. We refuse to have you sleep on this couch anymore."

"Ryan, please, just let me sit here in my self-pity for my stupidity okay? We all need these times. It's important to me."

"Well, it's important to me to have a couch without you laying on it."

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that," Seth stated, turning the volume up on the television. "Oh look Enrique got the number 1 video of the week. That's excellent."

Ryan rolled his eyes. He walked over and unplugged the TV, much to both Seth and Taylor's surprise.

"What was that for?! I love that song, it fits my mood."

"Look at yourself Seth!" Ryan exclaimed. "You're living on my couch just because your wife, the woman that you've been obsessed with since you were ten, is refusing to take you back and with good reason. This is not the Seth Cohen that I've always been friends with. You would have never given up like this. There is a chance of winning Summer back, there always is. She loves you. We all know that, she knows that, you know that."

Seth just stared at his brother, not sure if he was more surprised about the fact that what Ryan said was true or the fact that Ryan had just said all of that in one sitting.

He needed to win Summer's trust and love back. It was the only way they were ever going to get past this, of fixing their relationship that was falling apart. He just didn't know what he had to do. Would it be impossible to take her to their old school and hop on the coffee cart?

"What do I do Ryan?"

Ryan shrugged. Of course he went back to normal Ryan of few words when Seth really needed him.

"What about you, Taylor? Anything? Summer drop any hints about something that she wants to do?"

Taylor shook her head. "Sorry Seth, she hasn't said anything to me. Well, anything that I would be willing to repeat at least."

Seth sighed, leaning back. How could he have nothing? He always had something, even if it was impulsive. Maybe he had used up all of the times he could redeem himself.

Then a thought struck him. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought it before. How could he have forgotten the plan that he had been working on for the past four months? This was the perfect thing to do. He needed to get started on it right away.

"I gotta go," he stood up abruptly.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll explain later. I just need to go to my office and get some things, numbers and everything. I'll be back later."

Seth grabbed his keys, running out to the car. This was definitely going to be the way that he was getting Summer back. It had to work.

* * *

Summer opened her daughter's door to find Emma sitting on the ground, playing with Lilly. She smiled and watched the scene for a minute before deciding that she had to interrupt.

"Em, honey, it's time to go to bed," Summer said.

"I don't want to," Emma whined.

"Too bad. You have to."

"Daddy would let me stay up!"

"Well, Daddy's not here."

"I want Daddy."

"You can't honey, he's at your-I mean he's on a business trip." Summer just barely caught herself on that one.

"I want him to be here."

Summer sighed. This had gone on since Seth had gone to stay at Ryan and Taylor's five days ago. Luckily she hadn't woken up with his brief arrival home three days before.

She had realized that taking care of Emma and Madeleine by herself was hard. Things were so much easier when there were two of them-especially when it came to putting Emma to bed. This had been the worst week of her life.

Summer looked down at her daughter, who was currently throwing quite the fit about not getting to stay up. She couldn't handle it for much longer.

"Emma! It is time to go to bed." Emma still ignored her. She blamed this one on Seth, since he so often spoiled Emma by letting her stay up later than her normal bedtime.

"No! I want Daddy! I miss him."

"Em, please just go to bed. We'll call Daddy in the morning and see how his business trip is going okay?" Summer said, thinking of the first thing that would get her in bed.

"Really?" Emma's eyes lit up at the thought of this.

"Yes. You should get to bed so morning will come faster and we can call him."

"Okay!" Emma immediately hopped into her bed, the dog hopping up after her. She closed her eyes tightly, obviously willing sleep to come.

"Goodnight sweetie." Summer kissed her cheek, turning off the light.

"Mommy?"

"Yea?"

"Is Daddy comin' home soon?"

"I don't know."

"I really, really, really miss him."

Summer nodded her head though Emma couldn't see. She left the room quietly, closing the door partially. She leaned against the wall, thinking of what Emma had just said.

"I miss him too," she whispered quietly to no one at all.

* * *

Seth rushed around his office, hoping that he had everything. He had his bags packed. He had snuck into his house when Summer wasn't home and had packed bags for her, Emma, and Madeleine, leaving them hidden in the closet.

Now he just had to do the hard part. That was get to the house and get Summer to come with him. This was bound to be interesting.

He drove as quickly as he could without breaking speed limits (well, he broke a few) to the house. He used his key to quietly let himself in the house. He had hoped that she would be asleep at this moment and not up with the baby or this would make everything ten times harder.

He was lucky. She was fast asleep in their bed, curled up under the covers. He walked over and tapped her shoulder until he had jogged her awake.

"Cohen?" she asked in a sleepy haze. "What are you doing here?"

"I need you to come with me," he said.

She looked at his hand that was outstretched, then looked back at him. "Give me one good reason why I should do that."

"Because it's important."

"Is there something wrong with your parents or your sister?" she asked.

"No, it's all good. Everyone's fine."

"Then, I repeat, why are you here asking me to come with you."

"Just trust me, Summer."

"I did that once before and look where that got me."

"Okay, so maybe trust wasn't the best word choice. Just…come with me. It's important to me and hopefully, it'll be important to you."

Summer eyed him up for a moment, then, not even realizing what she was doing, placed her hand in his. She stood up and looked at him, though he didn't move a muscle.

"Okay, so I stand up, have agreed to go with you even though I still am pretty pissed at you, and you just stand there?"

"Sorry, Summer. Okay." He wasn't about to tell her that he had gotten distracted by the fact that she was wearing an old t-shirt of his as her pajamas. He had to admit, that gave him a bit of a glimmer of hope right there. "Um, go get changed into something comfortable. We're going to be in a car. A lot."

"A car? What are you talking about?"

"Just…uh, go with it okay? I'm going to go wake Emma, you get Madeleine and meet me downstairs."

Seth left the room, going into his daughter's room. He looked at her sleeping form and almost regretted that he was about to wake her up. He did so and she slowly opened her eyes. She fully opened them when she saw that it was her dad sitting on her bed, waking her up.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, throwing her small arms around him.

"Hey, Emma." He smiled at her excitement and was so happy that he got to be with her again, even if this didn't work. He was going to spend the next four days with his girls and if it was the last time, then so be it.

"Em, you have to get dressed."

"Why? It's dark!" Emma said obviously confused.

"We're going on an adventure."

"Okay!" Her eyes lit up with excitement at this and she hopped out of bed. She paused. "Can Lilly come too?"

"Well, not exactly. She's going to stay with Aunt Taylor and Uncle Ryan while we're on our adventure. We're going to bring her over before we leave."

"Okay," Emma said, slightly disappointed but still excited about the adventure she was going on.

Seth helped her get dressed, then lead her out of her room. He quickly grabbed the bags he had packed before and with much difficulty as there were a lot of bags, went downstairs. Summer was sitting on the couch with Madeleine and she eyed him suspiciously as she saw all the bags.

"Are we moving or something?"

"We're going on an adventure!" Emma exclaimed.

"C'mon, we've got to start this adventure by brining Lilly to Ryan and Taylor's house."

Summer followed the two outside, none of their excitement rubbing off on her. She wished she was still in her bed, all comfy and cozy. Instead she had agreed to go on a crazy adventure with Seth.

They got into the car and drove to Ryan and Taylor's in almost complete silence, only a quiet squeal of excitement out of Emma a few times.

They arrived at the house and despite it being almost midnight, Taylor was standing on the front steps, obviously waiting for them. She came over to the car and opened the back door up to get Lilly."Emma, I think that you should go inside and use the bathroom before we go," Seth said as he wanted a few minutes alone with Summer.

"'Kay." She grabbed Taylor's hand and followed her into the house.

Seth looked at Summer. "Okay, so I know that you're confused and I don't really blame you. I just need to do this. We need to do this with the girls okay. A lot has happened between us and maybe, just maybe it will help. If it doesn't, when we get back then you can call a lawyer and divorce me if that's what you want."

"Is that really what you think that I want?" Summer cried. "A divorce?"

"Just…I don't want to go into any of this right now. We'll figure out everything in the next few days. Everything, I promise. Including all that's happened in the past few days and what we're going to do about it. Because we need to talk about what's going to happen now. I just don't want to talk about it any of it yet. There'll be time."

Summer didn't say anything. She had so many things she wanted to say to him at this moment but held them back, especially because Emma was coming back. She wanted to be as civil as physically possible around her because she didn't want Emma to be exposed to any of it.

She sighed, resting her head on the head rest and closing her eyes as Seth began to drive. She wondered where he was going to take them and if it was going to save them.

* * *

A/N-I decided to put this at the end because I am probably going to get a bit rambly. First, just wanted to thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and to Meg for editing for me. Okay, I just wanted to let everyone know that in the next few months I most likely won't be updating half as much as I usually am. I have my SATS coming up in a month, which I just realized isn't that much time. On top of those, I have normal school work and such. So I'm going to try my hardest to update when I can. But don't worry, I will still be working on all of my stories, the updates will just be very sporadic. So, yea. This was incredibly long and rambly and I commend anyone who actually read this whole thing. Thanks again to my reviewers, I really appreciate it!


	14. St Modesto

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the OC. The song lyrics are from St. Modesto by Chris Walla.

A/N-So…not too much to say right now, only thanks to everyone who reviewed. Oh, and thanks to Meg for fixing all my mistakes for this chapter.

* * *

_Are you the one who can save this gory mess?_

"Summer," Seth said softly.

They had only been driving for probably five minutes but Seth needed to talk to Summer. He had something to give her, something that was vital to where they were going.

"What?" Summer asked, her tone harsh.

"Open the glove compartment."

"Why?"

"Just open it?"

"Mommy," Emma called sleepily from the backseat.

"What sweetie?"

"Daddy forgotted Bunny."

Seth groaned. He knew that he was forgetting something. "Can't you do with out Bunny?"

"No!" Emma shrieked.

"Sh, don't wake your sister," Summer said, then turned to look at Seth. "Maybe we should just go home and forget about this whole trip thing."

"No!" Summer gave him a look and he realized how loud he was being. He lowered his voice before speaking again. "I'll go get Bunny. It's fine, we're not far from home. It'll only take us a few minutes. You can't get out of this whole thing that easily."

Summer crossed her arms and turned her gaze out the window. Seth had been joking when he had said that she wanted to get out of the trip. He could tell by her body language that she had been attempting to do just that. He hated to admit how much that hurt him. The fact that she didn't want to spend anytime with him was more hurtful to him than anything else that had happened as of late.

He pulled into their driveway and started to get out. He paused before closing the door and looked at Summer.

"Look in the glove compartment."

Summer was having more trouble resisting looking inside. She didn't want to be with him; she wanted to be in her bed. The thought that Seth had something for her in the glove compartment was holding her back. She put out her hand on the door and pulled it open. The light inside guided her to what Seth had for her. She picked it up and gasped when she saw what it was.

Just as she was about to look at what it was, Seth came back to the car. He had a triumphant look in his eyes at the sight of what Summer was holding in her hands.

"Here's Bunny," Seth gave Emma the stuffed animal, then focused his gaze on Summer. "What do you think?"

"I-it's-I don't know," Summer replied honestly. Part of her really wanted to like this and to think that it was an incredibly sweet thing for Seth to do for her. The other part of her-the more rational part of her-was telling her that it was just another scheme to get her back. She wasn't sure if it was just a good or a bad thing what he was doing.

She held a comic book in her hands. on the front cover were drawings of Seth and Summer, much like their alter-egos Little Miss Vixen and the Ironist-except these really were them. She wanted to see more than just the cover and motioned to open it but Seth grabbed her hand to stop.

"Not yet. You can only look at a page when I tell you."

"But why?" She was curious as to what his scheming involved and was almost certain that this would inform her of exactly what was going on or what was going to happen.

"Because."

"But I want to look."

"No."

Summer looked at him. She had to admit he now had her curiosity, despite the little doubting voice that was repeating over and over in her head. As mad as she still was at her husband, she wanted to know what they were doing.

"Do you like the comic book?"

"I would tell you if I knew what was on the inside."

"Do you like the outside of it?"

"The outside is nice."

"You don't hate that it's a comic book right? I mean I know that you hated it then and all, but I figured since it wasn't Atomic County it would be okay. I mean it is okay right?"

"Cohen, just stop talking for a few minutes."

The next few minutes were spent in silence until Seth stopped the car. Summer looked around, wondering where they were stopped and why.

"Where are we?"

"You can open to the first page now," Seth said, nudging her hand to open up the comic book.

Summer did and skimmed the panels. There were more drawings of the two, though young versions of them. They illustrated a park and scenes involving monkey bars. Summer turned her face to Seth,

"I…I don't get it."

"I thought that you wouldn't remember. It's okay." He pointed to the small playground that they were parked next to. "You recognize this park right?"

"Yea, of course. We bring Emma here all the time," Summer paused, looking down at the comic book. "And apparently it's in here."

"More happened here. It was here that I realized that you were basically amazing. Two years after that I realized not only were you amazing but that I was in love with you."

Seth didn't wait for Summer to say anything in response as he started to tell the forgotten tale.

* * *

_Eight year old Seth looked up at the monkey bars. He could do this. He knew that he could. Everyone else at the playground could climb them. He wanted everyone to cheer for him when he made it to the other side._

_Not only was he going to cross the monkey bars, he was doing the big kid bars. Only Luke had done that. He was going to show them all that he could too._

_He pushed off from his toes and grabbed the first bar. He had a good grip and he hadn't fallen. He was off to a good start._

"_Hey look! Death Breath Seth is gonna do the monkey bars!"_

_Seth felt his hands start to sweat as many of his classmates started to watch. He made it to the next bar. He thought about calling out to his mom so she could see but he didn't want to seem like a mommy's boy. _

_He kept on going. He was halfway across now. Almost there. He could see the glory he would get now. It was exciting. Maybe now he would actually have some friends._

_He tried to get to the next bar but his hands slipped. He fell down to the pavement on his knees. He felt a sharp pain in his knees as he did and felt the tears sting his eyes. He didn't want to cry but the laughter of his classmates and the pain in his knees cause them to spill from his eyes._

"_Look at him, he's crying."_

"_What a baby!"_

_Everyone laughed and he couldn't help but cry harder. It wasn't fair. He wanted friends, that's all he wanted. This should have worked. He couldn't believe that it had failed. _

_The small crowd walked away, losing interest in him. Suddenly he was alone. He pulled his knees to his chest, the tears falling from his cheeks stinging the open wounds._

"_Seth?" a timid voice came close to him._

"_What?" Seth turned his head sharply, fearful that it was more people to make fun of him._

_It was Summer Roberts standing next to him. He didn't know why she was there. She hated him. She looked at him like he was a bug or something that she hated. He had tried to be friends with her and her friends but they had rejected him._

"_Do you want me to get your mom?" she questioned softly. She was hiding slightly as if she didn't want to be seen helping him. _

_Seth nodded his head. She ran away and came back several minutes later with Kirsten trailing behind her. _

"_Seth are you okay?" _

_He shook his head, a fresh batch of tears falling from his eyes. "I fell and hurt my knees!" _

_He looked behind his mom to see Summer still standing there. He could tell that she wanted to go back to her friends and play with them, yet she was still there with him._

"_Can you walk to the bench?" _

_He shrugged his shoulders and stood up. He didn't realize until he had started walking that Summer's hand was slipped into his. He looked at her, smiling slightly._

_The whole time Seth was sitting on the bench while his mom put Spiderman band-aids on his knees, Summer held his hand. It made him feel just a little better._

"_Okay, Seth you're all set," Kirsten said, smiling and kissing her son's forehead. "You can go play with Summer now."_

_Summer released his hand and gave him an uneasy look. The look made Seth realize that she didn't want to play with him. She was just being nice for a moment. She didn't want to be his friend._

"_No, I want to go home," Seth said quietly._

"_Are you sure?"_

_Seth nodded his head miserably. He wanted to leave everyone who wasn't his friends, who never would be._

"_All right. Thanks for helping Summer."_

"_You're welcome Mrs. Cohen," Summer said politely. She looked at Seth. "Bye Deat-I mean Seth."_

_She hopped off the bench. Before she did, she squeezed his hand tightly. She ran back to her friends, never once looking back._

_That didn't matter to Seth. He didn't care that she wasn't his friend or probably would never ever be. In that moment that she was there with him, he knew what it was like to have a friend._

"You seriously remember that far back?"

* * *

Seth shrugged. He was sort of embarrassed at this fact but then decided to take some pride in it. He knew his and Summer's story by heart-all the ups and downs of it.

The next place that he was taking her to certainly wasn't an uplifting moment in their history, at least not for him. It was a rather painful moment actually that he wanted to forget but knew he couldn't.

"Are you ready to go to the next stop?" he asked.

"Let's go."

* * *

"What are we doing at the junior high?" Summer questioned. Nothing lovey-dovey happened between the two in junior high, that much she knew. If she remembered correctly, she hated Seth during junior high.

She was very interested to find out what this meant. She looked at him for permission to turn to the next page and he nodded at her.

She looked at the panels. This time she definitely remembered the moment that was being illustrated. It was one she tried to repress, but still came to her. It wasn't a good memory at all.

* * *

_Summer sat with Marissa, Holly, Luke, and a bunch of his friends at lunch. The guys were having some sort of disgusting food combination time. She had turned her head away as soon as she heard the words "let's combine ketchup and pudding, then make Mac eat it." Marissa had reminded her that they were 13 year old boys who did these things all the time. Summer was just glad that none of the boys were her boyfriends, which Marissa definitely couldn't say._

_Not that she was totally happy that she wasn't dating any of these idiotic boys. Actually it was quite the opposite. The Valentine's Day Dance-which was like the prom of junior high-was in two days and not one guy had asked Summer. Not even Mac, who was currently eating ketchup and pudding. It was kind of sad even to her that she couldn't even get him to ask her. _

_She couldn't figure out why no one had asked her. Marissa and Holly had tried to nicely tell her that it was because she had been in like permanent PMS mode and was usually yelling and snapping at people. They were starting to be just a little afraid of her. Summer had very nicely yelled at them in return._

_She couldn't help the yelling. It really wasn't her fault. It was her mom's-or the woman she had once called mom. She had just up and left a month ago. People thought that Summer was doing okay with it. She put on a great act in front of everyone. _

_Truthfully it was the opposite. She cried every night and could barely sleep. She was haunted by the thought that it was her fault that her mom left. This caused the constant snapping. _

_All she really wanted was a date to the dance. A date that would make her forget everything and that could have a good time with. _

"_Hey, look. Here comes the queer," she heard Luke say quietly._

"_Let's make him eat this!" Mac exclaimed, obviously tired of being the one forced to eat the disgusting mixtures._

_Summer rolled her eyes. Ew. She couldn't believe they were going to do this to the poor kid. Well, he was pretty weird. He was really into comic books and listened to random music. Plus he seemed to have a slight infatuation with her, which was rather creepy at times._

"_Here, eat this," Luke shoved it under his nose as he approached the table._

"_Uh, thanks for the offer Luke, but I already ate lunch. Plus whatever your mom is packing you doesn't seem to smell all that tasty. I don't blame you for wanting to give it away. I won't be going to your house for dinner anytime soon." He turned to look at Summer. "I actually came here to talk to Summer."_

_She looked up when she heard her name. Why in the world did Seth Cohen want to talk to her?_

"_What do you want?"_

_He started fidgeting under her stare. "Well, you see, there's the Valentine's Day Dance n Saturday. I heard that you don't have a date."_

_She glared at him. "Thanks for reminding me. Could you get on with whatever you came over here to say?"_

"_Right, sorry. Well, since you don't have a date and I don't have a date, I was wondering-more of really, really hoping-that you and I could go together."_

_Summer heard Marissa and Holly start snickering. She was so embarrassed. The only guy to ask her to the dance was the school nerd. And he had to do it in front of everyone. Now everyone knew that she was only capable of getting a geek for a date._

"_Ew! Never ever in a million years would I go with you."_

_She watched his shoulders slump and he walked away from the table, obviously heartbroken. Summer didn't care. She was now just more determined to go to the dance with a date-a date that wasn't Seth Cohen._

She winced as she thought of that day. Now she felt terrible. When it had happened she hadn't felt the same.

"Ready for the next place?" Seth asked quietly.

Summer nodded her head. They drove in silence for a few minutes before Summer finally said anything.

"I never got a date."

"Huh?"

"That dance, that ridiculous Valentines' Day Dance. I went dateless."

"You did?" Seth paused. "I never even went."

"Oh."

Summer couldn't believe that she was feeling guilty at the moment of something that had happened well over 10 years ago. This was what Seth wanted she decided. He wanted to show her how much they had both hurt each other over the years.

It wasn't working that well. She pulled her guilt away and didn't think about it again as they continued driving. They stopped soon in front of Harbor.

Summer didn't wait for him to say anything to her just turned the page, already knowing what was going to be on it. She was right as she saw the special moment that they had shared together on the coffee cart.

"You remember that don't you?"

Summer hesitated before she said something to him. She knew what she wanted to say to him and she knew that he was probably not going to like it. It didn't matter though. He had her angry from trying to make her feel guilty.

"Which time? The one where you declared our relationship to everyone in our school or the time when you told me that you no longer loved me?"

She could tell that she had silenced Seth with this comment. She felt happy about this. She wanted him to think about everything that he had done to hurt her-even if in his twisted mind he had thought that it was helping her.

"Can we just go home?" Summer asked quietly.

"We're not going home," Seth replied.

"What?"

"We're staying at a hotel."

"Why? We're like fifteen minutes from our home."

"We're on a trip or as Emma is calling it, an adventure. You can't stay in your own home when you're on an adventure."

"Fine, then can we just go to the hotel or whatever? I'm tired. I should be asleep considering Madeleine is probably not going to sleep much longer." As if on cue, the baby started to stir slightly in the backseat. "And I don't want to sit in this car anymore. So let's just go."

Seth followed her commands and started to drive once again. He started to wonder if his plan was a failed mission from the start.

* * *

Summer settled into the large hotel bed. She was exhausted, having been up for way longer than she ever wanted to be up. She had to stay up longer with Madeleine, as she had predicted correctly, and then Emma woke up from the loud crying and wouldn't go back to sleep. It took both her and Seth to finally get her to sleep.

Summer looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. All of this was Seth's fault.

She looked down at him, as he was currently setting up camp on the floor next to her bed. She almost felt bad about making him sleep on the floor when she had a whole bed to herself. She wondered if she was going to regret what she was about to do. She didn't bother thinking about it though.

"Seth," she said. He turned her attention to her.

"What?" he asked. He looked just as tired as she felt. She couldn't make him sleep on the floor.

"Come and sleep up here."

He gave her a doubting look. She nodded her head to give him that reassurance. He gathered the pillows and placed them on the bed. He looked at Summer as he laid down and she turned her back to him.

He turned out the light next to him and settled into the bed. He inched closer to Summer. He knew he was now really pushing his luck but he wanted to. He wanted to know if she would let him touch her. He wanted to know what his chances of fixing this horrible mess were.

"It's not the same you know," her voice broke the silence that had engulfed the room.

Seth stopped in his quest to move closer to her. He was close enough for the moment. "What?"

"Everything that I ever did to you. It isn't the same. We were never dating. I never really knew you. You've done everything to me when we were together."

"I know," Seth replied honestly.

"I've given you so many second chances Seth. So many times." He could hear the tears. He hated himself.

"I know."

He let silence fall between them again. He knew she wasn't asleep. He just needed to let her be for a few minutes before he asked what he really wanted to know.

He managed to move even closer to her. She didn't tell him to go away. He took this as a good sign, despite that she still had her back to him.

"Are there any more second chances left for me?" he whispered.

Minutes passed before she responded. Seth thought for a moment that she did fall asleep.

"I don't know Seth. I really don't know. What you're doing for me right now is amazing but it still doesn't change everything that happened."

Seth nodded his head even though she couldn't see it. He knew this. He knew what he was doing was a long shot. He knew that this was really his last chance if he had any chance at all.

Slowly he slipped his arm around Summer's waist. He didn't know what compelled him to do so. It was a bit of a habit. They always slept close to another, trying to stay touching throughout the night. He had missed this the nights that he had been away from her.

Summer felt her body relax at his touch. She didn't want to. She didn't want his touch to have an affect on her. She couldn't help it. She had missed the closeness between the two, the warmth from his body. That aided in the decision to not tell Seth to remove his arm.

"I'm still pissed at you," she said.

She couldn't have him thinking that he was forgiven or something. That was what compelled her to say that.

"I know," Seth replied. "I still love you."

He didn't get a response and didn't expect one. It was like the other day. He had told her he loved her and didn't bother waiting for one. He didn't care. He just wanted her to know that he loved her and wasn't going to stop loving her.


	15. I Will Possess Your Heart

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of The OC. Song lyrics are from I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab for Cutie.

A/N-I'm not really crazy about this chapter, but at least it's something. Also, I just wanted to tell everyone that there are only about 2 or 3 chapters left in this story, which actually kind of saddens me. I was just wondering, would people be interested if I wrote a sequel to this story? I just wanted to put that idea out there, as if people are interested, there is a very likely chance I will write one. Okay, enough rambling, thanks to everyone who reviewed and thanks to Meg for editing.

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* * *

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I will possess your heart.

Summer wondered if Seth was awake yet. They had left the room an hour ago to take advantage of the continental breakfast that was offered by the hotel, since Emma had been begging to have something to eat. She had hoped that they wouldn't take long, as she didn't want to worry Seth too much, but it had taken over an hour. She had thought to grab him a bagel before going back up to the room.

When they walked inside the room, Seth was up, frantically searching the room. He looked at them when they came inside the room and he noticeably breathed a sigh of relief.

"What were you looking for?" Summer questioned.

"The keys," he replied. "I thought that you might have taken off when you weren't here when I woke up."

"Do you really think that I would do that."

"Yea, I do think that you would."

"Well, if I was going to leave you here, I would have left you the car and just called a cab, considering that we're fifteen minutes from our home. I still don't understand why we didn't get to sleep there last night."

"It's an adventure Mommy!" Emma exclaimed.

"What she said," Seth said, smiling at his daughter. At least she was on board for this whole thing.

"Daddy, can I watch Dora?"

"Well, I don't know. We have to get going pretty soon."

"But Daddy, I never miss Dora!" Emma said dramatically.

Summer looked at the two, a smile tugging at her lips. The interaction between the two was something she had missed in the time that Seth wasn't in their house. It was always cute to watch him with Emma and watch how much she loved and admired her father. It had been weird in the days that Seth wasn't there and Summer hadn't been the only one to think that. Emma had hated it and Summer could tell that she was more than happy to be back with her father.

"How about you watch Dora while I shower and get ready? You just have to promise me one thing."

Emma nodded her head vigorously. "Anything!"

"You have to get your bathing suit on under your clothes before you watch Dora."

Emma's eyes lit up. "My bathing suit! Are we gonna go swim?"

"You have to wait. Go get it on and then watch Dora okay?"

Emma went to the bag that was packed for her and dug it out, then ran into the bathroom, slamming the door with excitement. Summer looked at him, just as confused as Emma.

"We're going to a place that requires bathing suits?"

"Possibly."

"Where are we going Seth?"

"I can't tell you that."

Emma darted back out of the bathroom, turning on the television. Seth avoided further questioning by slipping into the bathroom. Summer was seriously trying to figure out where they could possibly be going.

She hated to admit that she was looking forward to wherever they were going. It was an interesting way of trying to get back in her good grace's and while it wasn't working entirely, it was starting to soften her.

* * *

As much as Summer had looked forward to their next stop an hour ago, now she was kind of pissed off at Seth for ever deciding to do this. The air conditioning had broken and they had the windows rolled down but the car was still rather warm.

It had only been an hour of driving, but it felt like an eternity to her. Madeleine had been crying for the past ten minutes but Seth refused to stop the car, saying that they were almost to their destination. With the crying, the broken air conditioning, and the constant reassurance from Seth that they were almost there was about to drive Summer insane.

"Mommy, she's loud!" Emma whined. "Make her stop!!"

"Seth, can we please just stop?"

"Summer, we're like five minutes away. It will just delay us if you make me stop."

"So you're perfectly fine with your daughter screaming and crying?"

"No, actually it's really bothering me, but I have a schedule to follow."

Suddenly, a cry louder than normal came from Madeleine. Summer turned her head to see Emma poking Madeleine and it didn't look like she was doing it gently.

"Emma Grace! Stop that right now!" Summer scolded.

"What was she doing?" Seth questioned, unable to take his eyes off the road, not wanting to miss their turn.

"Poking Madeleine."

"Emma, that wasn't nice of you."

"She was loud," Emma said, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"That doesn't mean that you can torment her."

Emma didn't respond to her mother. Summer sighed heavily. She couldn't imagine what Emma was going to be like as a teenager if she was already acting like that towards them.

Seth turned into a small parking lot, finally stopping the car. Summer didn't say anything just got out of the car to the backseat to get Madeleine. Seth stayed in the car for a minute. He hated how things were currently going, as she hadn't even realized where they were.

He leaned over to get the book out of the glove compartment, then got out. Summer ignored him and he just went over to Emma, who had got herself out of the car.

"Where are we Daddy?" she questioned.

"At the beach."

Her eyes lit up. "The beach?! Yay! Can we go swimming please?"

"I'll take you. We'll meet up with Mommy later."

He grabbed Emma's hand and they started walking towards the beach, pausing to get sand toys from the trunk of the car. He looked over at Summer before they went any farther.

"I'm taking Emma swimming. We'll be down there," he pointed to a spot on the sand, "come whenever you want. Or don't, whatever is fine. The book is on the seat in the car if you want to know where we are exactly."

Summer looked down at the sand as the two walked happily away from her. She did recognize this spot without even having to look at the book. It was a small beach, one that no one really knew about. They had actually found it by accident, when they were headed back to Newport after a trip to Berkeley. That had certainly been an interesting trip.

* * *

_Summer leaned her head against the car window, closing her eyes. They had been driving in the car for nearly five straight hours and she was sick of being in a car. She didn't really have anything to do. She couldn't read in moving cars as it made her feel sick and she wasn't allowed to pick the music that they listened to. She was bored._

_She opened her eyes when she felt Seth turn off the car. She looked at him, confused as to why he stopped. They were an hour away from Newport. Why was he stopping now?_

"_I think we have a flat tire," Seth said in response to the look on her face._

"_You're kidding right?" Summer asked. A shake of his head confirmed that he wasn't and she groaned. "This is great."_

_They both got out of the car to survey the damage done. Summer looked at Seth, as he was staring at the flat tire._

"_Are you going to fix it?" she questioned._

"_Do you really think that I know how to fix a tire?"_

"_Didn't you almost fix the tire after the earthquake?"_

"_Yes but see that was two years ago, plus I had Ryan telling me what to do. I mean I suppose I could try to change it but something might get broken."_

"_On you or the car?" she muttered. She suddenly wished she had paid more attention to her father when he had tried to explain her important things the she needed to know about cars._

"_Hey, look Sum." Seth was no longer looking at the tire but at what was behind them,_

_She looked, frustrated that he wasn't trying to find a solution to fix the car. Behind them was a beach, not a very large one, but still a beach. It was nice and no one was there. _

"_Let's go hang out."_

"_But Cohen, we're supposed to meet Taylor in two hours for dinner. She's only in Newport for a couple more days."_

"_Exactly. We can just have dinner with her a little later. We'll call her and tell that. Come on we've been in a car for five hours, there's no one else here and it's hot as hell outside."_

"_Fine, but only for a little while," Summer reluctantly agreed. _

_She followed Seth down the small path to the sand. She took her shoes off, letting the sand squish between her toes. _

_She took a seat down on the sand, not far from the water. Seth sat next to her, both staring at the waves washing onto shore. _

_Summer dug her toes into the sand, making little holes. She liked just sitting in silence with Seth, something that didn't happen often. He couldn't keep his mouth shut for more than a few minutes usually. When he was though, it was nice. Those were usually the moments she reflected on how much she liked his company and that they didn't always have to be doing something for her to realize this._

"_It's so hot out here."_

_Summer didn't say anything to him. She liked the silence that they had going on, it was nice. _

"_Do you want to go swimming?"_

_She sighed. Silence could only last so long with Seth Cohen. "We don't have our bathing suits Cohen."_

"_So…how is that stopping us from going swimming?" Seth asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. _

_Summer rolled her eyes at him. He gave her a look, letting her know that he was completely serious._

"_C'mon, no one is here."_

"_How do we know we're not on some sort of private beach?" Summer questioned, looking around to see if there was a sign. _

"_There weren't any signs telling us that we were trespassing."_

"_Well, what if someone comes to the beach?"_

"_Summer, look around. There is no one here and it doesn't look like anyone else is coming."_

_Summer still shook her head. She knew that Seth was pouting next to her, but she tried to ignore it. It was hard to do when he kept shifting around and mumbling comments about it being way too warm out. _

_She had to admit that it was hot outside. Looking at the water, it did look rather nice. She hated that Seth had even put the idea in her head because she now felt herself giving into him. _

"_Fine." She stood up, peeling off her shirt that was stuck to her body from the sweat. She looked down at Seth, who had suddenly stopped his mumbling._

"_What are you doing?" he asked as she took of the shorts she was wearing. _

"_Going swimming, I thought that was what you wanted to do. This is close enough to a bathing suit."_

_His face fell. "You're still going to wear that?"_

"_Yes Cohen. I'm not going to chance someone coming and me embarrassing myself by being naked. Though, if you want to do so, by all means I will not mind." She smirked at him, then headed towards the water._

_The cool water washed over her body and she had to admit it was a smart idea of Seth's. He followed her into the water several minutes after she had gotten in._

"_See, this was a good idea."_

_Summer just nodded her head. She went over to him and gave him a short kiss. It was just an innocent kiss, just to show Seth how much she loved him. She smiled at him, he returned the smile. _

_This was the kind of day that she loved._

Summer watched as Seth and Emma waded into the water, Emma obviously excited. She didn't want to go down there with them. She would only be able to think of the happy times they had there. As much as she wanted to think of them, she hated it at the same time. It made her think of the fact that they weren't happy and that there was a good chance that they wouldn't be happy anytime soon.

* * *

"Summer," Seth said, his soft voice waking her up.

Summer opened her eyes, still heavy from sleep. She looked and saw that she was in the car. How long had she been asleep for?

"We're leaving now. We're going to go to lunch."

"Oh okay," Summer agreed, righting her seat. "Emma, did you have fun?"

"Uh-huh!"

"That's good."

Seth looked at Summer. "Do you still want to go?"

"Go where?"

"Do you still want to go on with this trip? This is the last time we're going to be anywhere near here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't tell you that," Seth smiled. "If you don't want to go, I'll bring you home and then I'll leave okay?"

She hesitated on answering him. She didn't know what he meant by leave but she knew it wasn't good. She didn't really want to continue on with the trip but a small part of her wanted to.

"I'll let you think about it for a few minutes."

Summer realized something then. The meaning of his words 'I'll leave' clicked. He wouldn't come back. Her not going forward with this insane trip would show that she didn't want him anymore, that she wanted a divorce. He would give in to everything and their relationship would end.

She didn't want this. She wanted to work it out. She had realized this earlier in the day, before she fell asleep in the car, while watching Seth and Emma. She loved him, she just didn't know if she could forgive him.

What she did know was that she didn't want to lose him forever. She wanted to find a way to forgive him, she just needed to find it in herself. If that meant continuing on with this crazy trip, then that was what she was going to do.

"We'll keep going."

Seth smiled at her again, his grin wider than it had been in a while. "Good. Hope you don't mind a long car ride."

Summer didn't respond. She didn't know where they were going or what they were going to be doing, but she didn't care. She just hoped that she would be able to forgive him.


	16. Across the Universe

Disclaimer: I don't own the OC. Song lyrics are from Across the Universe by The Beatles.

A/N-So, I lied a little the previous chapter when I said that there were going to be 2 or 3 chapters left, considering this is the last one. I like how this whole chapter goes and how I ended it. I'm sad to see this end, as this was the first story I put in The OC section. But the good news is I am definitely going to do a sequel to this. I already have an idea (and it's not going to be when their kids are teenagers) but it will probably not be posted for a while, as I want to finish one of my stories before posting another. I would just like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially those who reviewed every chapter. And special thanks to Meg for editing every chapter, especially this one, the fifteen page beast!

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* * *

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Nothing's gonna change my world

Summer was wondering if she finally knew what it felt like to be officially insane.

Nearly eight hours in a car with a whiny four year old, a fussy baby, and Seth Cohen can most definitely do that to a person.

She rested her head against the cool window glass, thankful for the current silence in the car. It was nearly nine o'clock at night and they had been driving since noon, with the exception of several long breaks at rest stops.

Just as she was really slipping into the nice peaceful silence, it was of course broken.

"Mommy, are we almost there?" Emma whined.

Summer sighed. She had lost count of the times that this had been asked. It was always directed at her too, though Summer had told her daughter time and time again that she had no clue where they were going.

"Yes we are, Em," Seth answered.

Summer looked at him. She hadn't noticed that they were close to anywhere, though she had stopped paying attention to the signs hours ago. "We're really almost to where we're headed?"

"Yea, it's about ten minutes away."

Finally Summer noticed the familiarity of where they were driving through. She turned her head sharply to look at Seth. "We're going to see your parents?"

"We get to see Grandma 'n Grandpa 'n Sophie?" Emma asked.

"Yes we are," Seth replied.

"Yay!" Emma squealed.

The rest of the short drive to Sandy and Kirsten's house was spent with Emma expressing her happiness to her parents about getting to see her grandparents again. She hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving and she simply loved how much she was spoiled by them.

Finally they pulled their car into the driveway, Emma excitedly bouncing in her seat, waiting for her parents to release her from the constraints of her seatbelt.

She practically dragged Summer up to the door, leaving Seth to get Madeleine. Before Summer even made the motion to knock on the door, it opened widely. Kirsten was standing there, smiling brightly.

Immediately she bent down to Emma's level, not acknowledging Summer. She was used to this by now, Emma trumped all helloes to her. She was okay with that as she really wanted to talk with Seth at that moment more than anything.

Sandy appeared at Kirsten's side. He looked at Summer, saying a quick hello to her.

"Where is my granddaughter now?" he asked, looking right at Emma then looking around. "I don't see her anywhere."

"I'm right here!" Emma said, escaping from Kirsten's arms.

"You are not Emma Grace Cohen are you?" he asked, his smile growing larger.

"Uh-huh!" Emma shook her head vigorously, the curls in her hair moving every which way.

"I don't believe you," he replied.

"Grandpa, it's me!" she said, her eyes widening at the thought that her grandpa didn't recognize her.

"Are you sure?" He winked at her.

"Grandpa," Emma said, using a tone that sounded a lot like the one Summer used when she was annoyed.

"I guess it is you then." Sandy picked her up in a large hug, Emma giggling.

Seth finally emerged from the car with Madeleine in the car seat. He had an annoyed expression on his face.

"Stupid car seat," he was muttering.

Kirsten and Sandy ignored him, instead turning their attention to their new granddaughter. Seth was pushed to the backburner and the expression on his face made Summer laugh.

"Here, you take her," he thrust the car seat at his parents.

"Wow, Cohen, way to show your daughter that you really care," Summer commented.

"Her freakin car seat attacked me when I tried to get it out." Seth showed Summer his arm, where there was nothing wrong at all. "It is evil."

Summer just rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard to do."

"Grandma, where's Sophie?" Emma tugged on her sleeve, suddenly feeling void of the attention now that they were fawning over her sister.

"She's in the house getting ready for bed," Kirsten replied. She frowned looking at Seth. "We thought you were going to get here earlier. I made dinner and everything for you."

"Have you ever tried to travel long distances with a four year old, a baby, and Seth?" Summer supplied for her husband. "Speaking of dinner, do you have any that we could heat up? Fast food just isn't cutting it for me."

"Actually," Seth spoke up, "we have somewhere we have to go."

Kirsten's face fell. "But you just got here."

"Not all of us, just Summer and me. Do you think you can handle these two for a little while?" Seth questioned.

"Of course."

Summer looked at Seth, wanting to question why she could not feed herself actual food and get warm and comfy in a bed after all of the driving. That was what she wanted to do, not go some crazy place with him.

"We won't be long."

He grabbed Summer's hand and pulled her to the car, leaving no room for arguments. Once again she was back in the car. She was starting to wonder why she had agreed to continue on with this trip back home. She could be sleeping in her bed or doing something that didn't involve driving in a car.

"Seriously, please tell me that this is not going to be an intensely long trip. It's not right?"

"No, it's a short little trip. It won't take long."

"Can I ask why we even came here?" Summer questioned. She wanted to know why they were at his parents' house of all places. Not that she didn't love Sandy and Kirsten, she was just overly frustrated with the fact that this 'adventure' that he supposedly thought was going to fix their relationship brought them to his parents' house.

"Came where?"

"To your parents' house. You want us to solve all of our problems at your parents' house? We could have just done that at our own home."

Seth sighed. He should have realized that she would criticize his actions, more likely than not forgetting about where he was taking her. He had almost forgotten about where they were going until he started to think really hard about this trip. Then he had decided that this was the perfect place to take her, though she obviously didn't agree.

"You'll understand when we get there. Plus, Mom and Dad haven't seen Madeleine before, since they couldn't make it to see us when she was born."

Summer was silent for a few minutes. That part was true, they hadn't been able to see Madeleine yet, so maybe it was good that they came. She just really wished that he had decided to go at a better time,

"Do your parents have any clue what's been going on between us?" Summer asked.

Seth shook his head, slightly guilty. He had just called them and told them that they needed to visit for a few days. He didn't bother telling any details and they didn't ask.

"So your parents have no clue that they might have two other grandchildren?" Summer couldn't help the bitter tone that she had adopted in her voice.

Seth slammed on the brakes to the car suddenly, without any warning. Summer shot him a glare.

"What was that for?"

"I am sick of this Summer. I know that I hurt you and that my mistakes screwed everything up. I get it, I fucked everything up as I usually do. I just…I want you to forgive me. I'm sick of you acting the way you are. I just want you back. I want us to go back to the way we were before, before Olivia came, before I started working late, before our anniversary, before anything that screwed us up."

"We can't go back Seth," Summer shook her head, wondering why he hadn't understood it yet.

"Why can't we? I'm trying everything, I'm trying so hard to remind you of all of the good times that we had together. Why can't we just forget that this happened?"

"Because they happened Seth! They didn't just not happen. I can't forget about the fact that you slept with Olivia. It just doesn't happen like that. We're not sixteen anymore, what goes on with us affects more than just the two of us," Summer said. "It happened. It all happened. There's no going back. Everything has changed."

Seth gave a frustrated sigh. This wasn't working how he wanted it to. He wanted her to forgive him, he wanted to be able to tell her that he loved her and have her say it back to him, not to just have her stare back at him with a vacant expression.

Both fell silent, not having much more to say. Neither knew what to say or what exactly to do next.

Seth started to drive again, slowly. This was going to be his last attempt at anything. If it didn't work, he was finally going to turn in the towel. He couldn't do this anymore and he was sure she wasn't going to be able to much longer. As much as it hurt to think about that, he needed to face the realities of his life. He needed to realize that he had royally screwed up and everything had fallen apart.

* * *

Emma sat down on the floor in the living room, staring at her grandparents. They were with Madeleine, like everyone always was.

It wasn't that she didn't love her little sister. She just missed all the attention that her mommy and daddy would give her. She did get her puppy but it wasn't the same.

Plus Madeleine was really really loud.

She was nice when she was quiet. When she was quiet, everyone wanted to play with her.

But right now she was not being quiet. She wasn't being loud either. Everyone was playing with her, even Sophie. Sophie didn't like babies either, or so Emma had thought. She had never wanted to go near Molly or Josh, she only liked to play with Emma. Now she was ignoring Emma.

She crossed her arms unhappily. She was not used to the sharing at all. She didn't like sharing her grandma and grandpa either. They were supposed to be hers, all hers.

"Hey kiddo, I think it's time for you to go to bed," she heard Sandy say to Sophie.

"But Dad," Sophie whined.

"Hey, we let you stay up for an extra hour to see Madeleine," Kirsten jumped in.

"I didn't even get to see Seth and Summer!"

"You'll see them in the morning."

"Why did they have to go somewhere anyways?" Sophie grumbled as she headed towards her bedroom.

"You should get to bed too Em."

"Do I have to Grandpa?" she asked. "I wanna wait to see Mommy and Daddy. I can't sleep without them."

"You'll be fine tonight."

"But I gots to make sure it's okay!"

They both gave her a questioning look and she knew she shouldn't have opened her mouth. She knew her mommy wouldn't like if she said anything to her grandparents about all the stuff that she had overheard.

Her baby sister wasn't the only one who was very loud.

She had picked up on a lot of what her parents had been saying over the past few days. She definitely knew that her dad had never gone away 'cause she saw him come home one day. He had waved a piece of paper in her mom's face and had said something about results (though she didn't know what that meant, she didn't think it was good by the way her mom was crying once her dad had left again). She had noticed a lot of different things and knew that something was wrong.

Sure, she was only four (and a half as she liked to remind people often). She still picked up on everything. She certainly didn't understand it all but she did know that something was up and that her dad was trying to fix it all. She had heard him talking to her mom about it.

"What do you have to make sure is okay?" Kirsten questioned.

"Mommy and Daddy," she replied.

"They're fine, they just went on a drive somewhere."

Emma shook her head. "They were fightin'. A lot. Mommy didn't even tell Daddy that she loved him when he said it! An' she always told me to say it back to Daddy, even if he wouldn't buy me the My Little Pony."

She watched her grandparents exchange glances, but she didn't really pick up on how worried the glances were. She yawned loudly, finally realizing how tired she really was.

Sandy took note of her yawn, scooping her up, not bothering to listen to any feeble protests that she gave. He was suddenly more worried by that thought that she had put into their minds. He had noticed something was off when they had come to the house, but didn't think anything of it. They had two kids to take care of so it could have just been that.

He also wasn't going to be too quick to jump on anything that Emma said. She was only four after all and had an overactive imagination-something she definitely got from Seth.

He decided not to worry too much about it. Seth and Summer were probably fine, just as they had always been.

* * *

"Seth what the hell are you doing?"

They had been driving for probably twenty minutes and Seth had just randomly pulled to the side of the road. He had gotten out of the car and was now searching for something in their trunk. It made her nervous, sitting in the front in the dark alone.

"Hold on Summer."

She turned back around, crossing her arms in frustration. In the twenty minute drive, neither had spoken to one another. These were the first words exchanged between them. It had been awkward to not hear Seth rambling away and to just listen to the music. It was even worse when Summer realized that she was humming to the music, which she had tried all of these years to resist.

Finally Seth closed the trunk and came around, opening up Summer's door. She hopped out and looked at him.

"Why do you have flashlights?" Summer asked suspiciously.

Seth handed one to her and started walking. She sighed, turning it on and following him. He just walked a short distance and then stopped and flashed the light on something off the road.

"Do you remember this place?" Seth questioned softly.

Summer pointed her flashlight to the same exact point he had his at. It took a minute of looking at the surroundings to realize where it was exactly. When she did remember, she realized exactly where they were and why he had brought her here.

* * *

_Summer usually loved road trips. They were fun and enjoyable, something about the car with the music playing loudly._

_This trip was anything but fun. Perhaps it was the fact that they were lost and had been lost for about three and a half hours. Maybe it was the fact that they had been driving in circles for an hour and had been getting absolutely nowhere._

_Really it was the fact that Olivia was brought up. Again. _

_It wasn't an intentional topic that was brought up. It had been almost five months since the whole ordeal had occurred. Seth had graduated and Olivia had transferred to a college closer to her mother or something, Summer didn't care to ask the details. She had left their lives and they were happy. _

_She somehow had come in the conversation. Well, it hadn't been a conversation really it had been more of a screaming match. They had both been frustrated that they were lost and tensions were high. _

_She wasn't really sure who said something first, her or him. It had just escalated to a point that he said he was happy that they broke up for that time as it allowed him to realize what he had been missing by being with her all the time._

_That was when she promptly called him an asshole and stopped speaking to him. And she didn't intend to ever do so again. _

_And she really was pissed at him. She had wanted tonight to be special, tonight she was finally going to tell him that she wanted to marry him. The proposal from when they first got together had just been hanging there for the last five months. Seth had told her that whenever she was ready to tell him and then he would give her the ring. Secretly she almost accepted so she could have the ring but she wasn't ready for that. She had thought that she was but no she wasn't so sure. _

_Seth started slowing the car to stop and she looked at him in confusion. She didn't see his parents' house anywhere in sight. Why were they stopping now?_

"_We're out of gas," Seth said, not even letting her ask her question._

"_How could we be out of gas? How could you miss something like that?"_

"_Well maybe if you hadn't been screaming at me like you were I would have been able to pay more attention to the fact that we were almost out of gas. Not that I would be able to get any gas as I don't know where the closest gas station is." He gave Summer a glare at this._

_So maybe it had been her fault that they were lost. She did kind of give him the wrong turn. Still, it didn't give him the right to say the things that he did._

"_What are we going to do?" Summer asked. It was late, she was hungry, and they were supposed to be at his parents' about two hours ago. _

"_I don't know," Seth shrugged. "I guess I can get out and walk. Find someone to give me a ride to a gas station or something."_

_Summer's eyes widened. "You are not leaving me alone."_

"_Why not? You could totally take anyone who comes at you. Just scream at them like you did at me earlier. That'll teach them to not mess with you."_

_Summer hit Seth on his arm in anger. That wasn't true at all._

"_Ow woman that hurt!"_

"_You want me to sit alone in a car and possibly get raped or abducted? Way to show your love for me Cohen."_

"_Jesus Summer, I was kidding. I'm not going to leave you alone, even though I think that sitting here with you isn't exactly going to be a picnic."_

"_Fine then. I don't want you to be in here with me. Go and walk. Get hit by a car that doesn't see you or something. See if I care."_

"_Fine, I will." Seth whipped his car door open and stepped outside, leaving Summer alone inside._

_She watched him walk away in the dark and suddenly an uneasy feeling of dread filled the pit of her stomach. There were all those urban legends about the girl left alone in the car and the creepy psycho breaks into the car, killing her and the occasional random dog that is in the backseat._

_And what about Cohen? He didn't know north from south or any other basic directions that would be needed for him to make it to a gas station alive. She would hear on the radio that he got hit by a car while trying to hitch a ride-unless she was dead too. _

_Now that she had freaked herself out completely, she decided that she needed to have Seth back in the car with her. Not that his protection would really do too much to save her or anything-Ryan would have been better for that kind of situation-but it would make her feel better. Plus if something did happen to him she would hate herself forever if the last thing that she said was for him to get hit by a car._

_She got out of the care, her movements frantic. She walked towards the road, looking somewhere for Seth. She didn't see him anywhere. Her heart leapt to her throat. What if he had been attacked or hit or-_

"_BOO!" _

_Summer screamed and immediately hit whoever had just scared about ten years off her life. She looked to see Seth doubled over in obvious pain. _

"_My God, Sum, you punch hard for someone so tiny."_

"_Did you ever really doubt that I could do serious damage?" she raised her eyebrows at him._

"_Good point," he said, leaning against the car door to catch his breath._

"_Why did you do that anyways?" Summer asked. "It wasn't funny at all. When I didn't see you, I freaked out completely."_

"_I'm sorry. I wasn't really going to walk, I was just going to hang out for a few minutes. Scaring you was an added bonus." He smirked, then stepped back away from Summer just in case._

_Summer rolled her eyes. Sometimes she had to remind herself why she had decided to date Cohen when he did stupid things like that to her._

"_Listen, Summer, I'm sorry about what I said before. It…it was really stupid of me. It just kind of came out though, in the heat of screaming at one another."_

"_You didn't mean it at all?" Summer asked, surprised that the insecurities she thought she had gotten over coming back to her._

"_Of course I didn't. You're the only girl I love."_

_Summer smiled at him. That was why she loved him. When he said incredibly cheesy things like that. Though they didn't say things like 'I love you' to one another very often, it made it more special when it was said. They always knew it was there, that they meant something to one another._

_She walked over to Seth-who was finally standing upright-and kissed him. It was a slow kiss but showed him what she was feeling right at that moment._

"_Cohen…I want to marry you. I was thinking about it and I'm ready."_

"_Even after the comment that I made?" Seth asked, his eyes lighting up with excitement at the fact that she was really accepting his proposal._

_She nodded her head. "I'll totally bring that up at a later date. I don't want to fight anymore. We did so much of that then and we've been doing so well lately-I don't want to ruin that."_

"_With the exception of our fights about what we get to watch on TV," he said, a smirk on his face._

"_Right. Those I enjoy."_

"_Because you always win."_

_Summer smiled. "Basically. So, we're stuck here for how long?"_

"_I don't know," Seth shrugged. "I have no clue how far we are from my parents or if we're even in the right place."_

"_So how exactly are we going to get to them?"_

"_I have no clue. They're probably asleep, it's late now. We can wait until morning to call them. Or we can walk then."_

"_Okay. I guess. So we're stuck here for the rest of the night?"_

"_Basically."_

_Summer kissed him again, this one harder than the earlier one. She hated being lost in a dark unfamiliar place, but she was thankful at least that she was with Seth._

That night had been a great night. They had laid in the backseat, talking, laughing, and planning when they wanted their wedding. It was just a night of them being together and not worrying.

Summer wished that she was able to do that now.

"I realize that we can't go back," Seth started talking, his voice hoarse from the moments of not speaking, "even though I wish we could. I know we can't. I want to try and fix everything Summer. I don't want to give up on us. We've been through so much together and I don't want to lose everything that we've worked so hard for."

Summer took a deep breath before speaking. "I tried to forget. I just cannot get the image of you with Olivia and her kids-or your kids-out of my mind. And I keep thinking that you're just going to leave me for her. That you're instead going to decide that she is better than me, prettier, that you like her more."

"I could never think of anyone else like that Summer." He took a step towards her and hugged her. He didn't care at that moment if she didn't want him touching her, he wanted to hug her. He wanted her to know that he would never stop loving her.

Summer didn't realize that she was crying until she felt the wetness against her face as she pressed her face against the fabric of his shirt. She didn't move, he didn't move, they just stood there clinging desperately to what they still had.

"They're not mine," he whispered into her hair, barely audible.

"What?" Summer pulled away from him.

"Phineas and Preston aren't my kids. The results came back and I'm definitely not their father."

Summer stood staring at him. Seth didn't have two other kids. His only kids were Emma and Madeleine. She didn't know how to feel at this moment. So many emotions were just coming at her, she just wasn't sure what to do.

She settled for hugging him. That was all she could really manage to do at that moment.

"I take it that this is good news right?" Seth questioned.

Summer nodded her head. It wasn't much but it made her feel slightly better about everything. She knew she wasn't forgiving Seth-but she was one step closer.

"Summer, I just have one question."

"Go ahead."

"Where do we stand?" Seth felt the nervousness he was feeling slip into his voice.

Summer knew that he was asking her if they had a chance, if they could work their way back towards being the Seth and Summer that everyone knew and loved once again.

"We need work," she started, "it still hurts Seth to think that you did that, even though we were broken up or whatever. I think that we need to go slow and work on everything that has happened to us."

He nodded his head, taking it all in. Truthfully he was just incredibly happy to know that she was giving him his one last second chance. There was just one more thing that he needed to know.

"Summer, this is going to sound like I am an insecure teenage boy but…you still love me. Right?" Seth hated to think that he had to ask this but he needed to know. She hadn't been responding to him at all when he said it to her. He knew it was a ridiculous thought but there was a chance that she could have fallen out of love with him because he hurt her so badly.

"I still do Seth." She didn't hesitate which Seth took as a good sign. "I just…I might not say it all the time. You have to understand…"

"I got it." That was all that he needed to hear. He didn't need to hear anything more.

They were far from everything being all right but they were on their way.

* * *

Seth and Summer felt like rebellious teenagers at that moment. They were sneaking into his parents' house at 1 o'clock in the morning.

They hadn't meant to stay out so late. They had realized that they were hungry, so they went out for dinner. After that, they talked about anything that they could think of. Just for those few hours, they were letting themselves slip back into their old ways of just being them. It was nice.

They had lost track of time and had somehow forgotten that they had to get back. Finally, they got there and were sneaking back in to make it seem like they had been there the whole time.

Just as they quietly closed the door, a light was flipped on. They both turned around to see Sandy standing there, a smirk on his face.

"Uh, hi Dad," Seth said.

"Nice of you two to grace us with your presence."

"Yea, you know we just lost tra-why am I explaining this to you? I can come in at any time I damn well please. I'm an adult," Seth said.

"An adult with kids. One of who is currently in our bed as she had a 'night dream' and can't sleep and the other is crying. Loudly and won't stop. We definitely know that she is your child Seth."

"Um, I'm going to go to Madeleine," Summer stated, embarrassed by this whole situation.

"I'll go to Emma," Seth said, but Sandy held him back.

"Wait a second Seth. There's something I want to talk to you about something."

Seth really felt like he was a teenager again. He followed his dad into his office and took a seat. Sandy took a seat next to him and Seth saw concern in his eyes.

"Is everything all right? Emma's okay right?" Seth asked, his mind immediately leaping to the worse possible thing happening.

"Yes, she's fine. It was just something she said to us earlier that has me thinking."

"What did she tell you?"

"Have you and Summer been having problems lately?"

Seth paused. Emma had picked up on everything that had happened between them? He didn't think that she had noticed anything.

"She told me that you said you went away but you came back with some sort of paper. And then she also told me that you were fighting. What's wrong?"

Seth sighed. "It's nothing…it was just…it's getting better. I didn't know that Emma even knew about anything. If I would have known…" Now he felt horrible that she had known something was up. He forgot sometimes how attentive his daughter was and how much she liked to pay attention to details. Of course she would pick up on these things.

Sandy frowned. He wanted to know what was going on and he wanted to make sure that things were all right. He was looking out for his grandchildren and for Seth and Summer. The two were just not the same without one another.

Seth saw the look his father was giving him. "Don't worry Dad. Let's just say that I screwed up royally this time. We're working through it though. We're willing to make sure that we don't fall apart."

"Good, good," Sandy nodded his head. He would pick apart Seth's brain later but right now it was one in the morning and he wanted to get his bed back. "So do you think that maybe you could coax your daughter out of my bed now?"

Seth agreed, going to his parents' room. Emma was laying there, eyes wide, Bunny clutched in her small hands.

"Hey Emma," Seth said quietly.

"Daddy! I had a night dream and you weren't there!" Emma exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to not be there. I'm here now and Grandma and Grandpa took care of you right?"

Emma nodded her head. "It wasn't the same."

"I know. Do you want to come and sleep with Mommy and me now?" Seth questioned, though he didn't know why he bothered, considering he knew that answer.

He picked his daughter up, saying a quick goodnight to his mom, then went to the guest room that he and Summer had always shared. Emma slipped into the middle, much like she did when she was at home with her parents and went to sleep with them. Seth knew that she had a bed set up in Sophie's room that she could go to but he didn't mind her being in there. He looked at the crib that his parents had set up in the room, noting that Madeleine was now calm. He just didn't see where Summer was at the moment.

She emerged through the door several minutes later. She smiled when she saw Seth and Emma curled up in the bed next to each other, Seth telling Emma a bedtime story. Summer checked once again on Madeleine before climbing in next to her elder daughter and husband.

Emma looked at Summer with tired eyes. "Mommy, is things all right?"

"Yes, of course they are," Summer responded.

"She saw us fighting," Seth said quietly. "And she knew that I was home that one night."

"Oh." Summer frowned. "Emma, don't worry about anything. All the big grown up stuff is fine."

"Okay," Emma said, laying her head against the pillow.

Summer and Seth both watched her for several minutes before the light was turned off. They settled underneath the covers, everything that had happened that day coming back to them.

"Cohen?" Summer whispered.

"Mhmm?"

"I…I love you," she said softly, barely loud enough for him to hear.

He did though and it meant a lot to him. Nothing in their lives was going to change. Things were going to stay similar or as similar as they possibly could stay after everything that they had been through. He was glad to say that nothing was going to change, that they were going to work on everything.

Summer smiled to herself as she lay against the pillows. It felt good to be able to say that to him. She had missed letting him know that she loved him, as automatic as it was for a lot of couples, for them it was important, especially now.

"I love you too Summer."

Both fell asleep with their minds filled with thoughts of one another. They were going to make it work, they were going to do whatever it took to make it better-they were going to make sure that they didn't fall apart again.


End file.
